


Soulmates

by Winchestackles



Series: Soulmates [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Apocalypse, Archangels, Battle, Big Show Down, Drinking, F/M, Flashbacks, Heaven, Major Character Injury, Minor Character Death, Minor Injuries, POV Multiple, Possession, Rapid Birth, Rituals, Saying "yes", Spells & Enchantments, Swearing, Unplanned Incest, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:40:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 21,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21723895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winchestackles/pseuds/Winchestackles
Summary: Who knew the lengths at which Soulmates could break all the rules?
Relationships: Dean Winchester/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Soulmates [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1565731
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Part 1 of 3

**Kristen's POV**

The next blow was the worst one yet and it flung me across the room and into a wall.

Hard.

I clutched my stomach and knew my body couldn't take much more of this.

I heard a male groan, followed by a loud thud and I looked over to see Dean's beautiful face, marred with blood and bruises, a couple of feet from where I had landed.

He couldn't take much more of this either.

Neither could Sam, Booby, Rufus, Ellen, Jody or Garth.

Not even Cass, who was just flung through the large stained glass window of the church we were currently fighting in, could take much more of this beating we were getting.

And he was an angel with supernatural powers.

Something had to give or we would all die.

Dean reached out and took my hand in his, making me meet his eyes.

In those breathtakingly green eyes, I saw defeat.

We all knew going into this battle that there was a slim chance of success.

But to see defeat in Dean Winchester's eyes...there weren't words to describe the loss and pain I felt in that moment.

A lifetime of memories to be had...gone just like that.

No.

There had to be another way.

I wasn't ready to give up on a life I barely just started to enjoy.

I could not live in a world that Dean Winchester didn't.

And that was when I remembered something he once told me, long ago...

> "Our family is royalty of sorts" Dean slurred, sloshing a bit of his beer over the pool table we were playing at.
> 
> "Is that right?" I smirked, taking his cup from him and replacing it with a pool stick. "It's your shot, Your Majesty" I teased the man, bowing slightly and taking a long pull of his beer.
> 
> "We are" Dean snorted at me drinking from his cup and bent over the pool table to take his next shot.
> 
> Even though the man was quickly on his way to drunkdom, his game never faltered.
> 
> Drunk or sober, Dean Winchester excelled at everything he put his mind to.
> 
> Except maybe talking.
> 
> After he sunk in his solid ball, he came over to me and placed his hand on mine, lifting his glass to his lips and taking a drink from it, his eyes never leaving mine. Then he brought his glass to my lips, encouraging me to take a drink too, which I did. I could feel the frost of the beer leave a moustache above my lip.
> 
> But before I could lick it off, Dean was doing it for me.
> 
> This was the first time the man was bold enough to make a move on me.
> 
> And I wasn't stupid enough to do anything to jeopardize that.
> 
> We had been playing this cat-and-mouse game for _years_ now.
> 
> And it seemed that checkmate was finally being called.
> 
> "Are you British or Chinese?" I found myself whispering, after Dean was done licking me.
> 
> He stared at me, utterly confused.
> 
> "Your royal genes...are they British or Chinese?" I clarified.
> 
> Dean laughed and shook his head at me.
> 
> "Think more _biblical_ " he smirked and it was my turn to be confused. "Our bloodline is origianl...as in straight down from the original brothers" he explained.
> 
> The beer in my system was making it hard for me to do the math.
> 
> "Cain and Abel?" I asked.
> 
> Dean shook his head.
> 
> " _Before_ them" he replied, leaning in closer to me, so we were sharing the same breath.
> 
> Before Cain and Abel?
> 
> Who the hell were brothers _before_ Cain and Abel?
> 
> Then, with Dean's help of pointing straight above us, I figured it out.
> 
> Angels.
> 
> Brother.
> 
> Angelic brothers.
> 
> "Michael and Lucifer?" I guessed and Dean grinned at me.
> 
> "Your brains are so sexy" he purred and _like that_ , my mind went to one particular place.
> 
> South of my border.
> 
> "Is that all you find sexy about me, Winchester?" I smirked.
> 
> "Fuck no it isn't" he growled and made to kiss me, but there was a clearing of a throat that made us pull back a little.
> 
> "Are you guys going to play or molest each other?" Sam's annoyed voice and eyes met ours.
> 
> Me and Dean shared a look and replied "Molest each other" at the same time, sending us laughing.
> 
> As we passed Sam, Dean handed him the pool stick in his hand and I handed him the beer from mine, and we interlocked our hands, leaving the bar and making our way to the motel.

I had never brought up that conversation again, unsure if it was just the ramblings of a drunk Dean, trying to impress me and get in my pants or if there was actual _truth_ to the man's claims. 

But from what I now knew about angels, that they all had a direct bloodline that was linked to humans in some way or another, and that if you shared this bloodline with the angels, it made you the perfect vessel for them. Meaning, if you shared a direct bloodline with an angel, you could become a walking and talking meatsuit for them to inhabit and possess.

But these were archangels we were talking about...like the _original_ angels.

Would they have a shared bloodline with humans?

Wasn't that the ironic basis of every good angel movie?

There was Michael, Lucifer and Gabriel, of pure blood, and everyone else mixed and mingled with humans at one point or another?

There was only one way of testing it.

Since Lucifer was currently trying to kill us all, I did the only thing I could think of.

I called out to his brother.

"Michael" I whispered.

Immediately, everything seemed to freeze and time stood still.

A glowing figure of a very attractive young man with sandy brown hair, was standing overtop of me, reaching down with a hand to help me up.

I took his hand and gently, he helped me to my feet.

"A female Winchester...interesting" he chuckled and shook his head. "And what do I owe this honor of being called upon?"

The man's voice was an ethereal one, seemingly to sing from every corner of my mind.

"So it's true...the Winchester bloodline is connected to you and Lucifer?" I asked the angel in disbelief.

"Directly through us, through Cain and Abel and into the Winchesters" he replied with a smirk.

"And you're really _him_?' I couldnt help but ask. "Michael, the almighty archangel? God's Sword?"

The man stared at me for a long moment before cracking a smile.

"It's been a very long time since I've heard myself described in such a way, but yes, it is really I, Archangel Michael, God's Sword" he chuckled, shaking his head again.

I stared at the man, wondering it I should believe him or not.

I wanted to, with every being in me, but Lucifer was a mighty deceiver and I had been fooled enough time already.

"You still doubt me sister?" the man asked me, taking me by surprise.

I was so used to angels attitudes towards humans, regarding us as filth, I wasn't sure how to react to being called "sister".

"I've had several run-ins with angels and besides, Cass, and a few others, they have not been pleasant experiences. You have not once sneered at me or insulted me, so that makes me wary of you being a real angel. Lucifer is a great deceiver and he's played us many times. I just want to be sure I'm talking to the right archangel. I'm sure you can be as terrible as you are great, but I wasn't expecting..." I trailed off, not knowing what exactly to say to the angel without offending him and he smiting me on the spot.

"Speak freely to me, Kristen" the angel encouraged me.

Taking a deep breath and thinking, _what do I have to_ lose, I did just that.

"I wasn't expecting someone so young looking...and attractive. I mean God clearly got it right with you, I'm not sure why he switched up the gene department" I gestured to Lucifer and blushed deeply.

To my surprise, the man laughed.

It was a pleasant sound that filled me with happiness and joy.

"Humans never cease to amaze me" he mused, still smiling.

A smiling archangel was a good sign...right?

"God _did_ get it right with me, but he wanted diversity" Michael started to explain. "He wanted everyone to be alike, but look differently. He wanted everyone to understand that just because we were different on the outside, didnt mean we were different in the inside. Most of us understood and appreciate God's lesson. Others" he gestured to Lucifer "did not. And they were cast out. There is no room in Heaven for naysayers."

"No offense, but that's all Heaven is full of, nowadays" I couldn't stop myself from saying.

Michael took a deep breath and nodded.

"This I am aware of" he replied, sounding annoyed now, before brightening again. "If you need proof that I am who I say I am, I can show you" he offered me his hand again.

I hesitated.

Should I throw caution to the wind and take this man's hand?

I mean this all could be a clever ploy on Lucifer's part and he could be tricking me into some kind of elaborate trap.

On the other hand, this could really be Michael and he'd be able to help us stop Lucifer, once and for all.

Glancing down at Dean's battered body, I knew what I had to do.

I took a deep breath and placed my hand in the angel's.

Doing nothing wasn't going to win this war.

Action _had_ to be made.

And make it I shall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Immediately, I was filled with this bright light, as I felt like a hook was placed right behind my bellybutton and I was suddenly yanked at the speed of light, forwards.

This must be how traveling by portkey felt like in Harry Potter.

When the light slowed, I could see a brightness that was a shape, but not defined as a particular object. The bright shape, I understood to be God. He was watching on as a beautiful man was wearing a crown, demanding others to bow before him and bask in his beauty. The man was covered head-to-toe in gold, jewels and jewelry. 

I understood this to be Lucifer, even though he looked nothing like the Lucifer I had ever imagined in my head.

It was obvious what Lucifer though was important…pride in his looks and his power over the other angels.

God shown bright, as if he were communicating with Lucifer. Lucifer scoffed and sneered at god, shaking his head at the shape and making a nearby angel, kiss his feet. This was clear defiance, if I had ever seen any. Suddenly the man holding my hand appeared before us, wearing full armor and brandishing a spear that gleamed in the sunlight, almost blindingly.

“Last chance Lucifer” the copy of the man next to me said. “Renounce your prideful ways. There is no one mightier than god himself."

“Well there should be...and it should be me” Lucifer spat at the man.

“Cast him out, Michael!” a booming voice sounded in my head, making me jump and nearly throw up in fright.

This was God giving his command for Michael to banish Lucifer, his brother, from heaven for good.

“So be it” Michael said and raised his spear towards Lucifer in a threatening way.

A huge battle broke out between the brothers and at the end of it, Michael cast Lucifer out of heaven. And as Lucifer fell, he lost his grace and his beauty, becoming the dark figure that often plagued my nightmares.

“Father” the man said on bended knee to the bright shape. “Casting Lucifer out did not feel good. Are you sure it was the right thing to do?”

“Lucifer’s pride is his sin, and it will eventually consume him whole until all he can think of is more power and a lust for greed. Does that sound like a heavenly being, son?” the booming voice resounded in my head.

“No father it does not” the man sighed.

“Then what you have done is right. But this was only a battle, Michael, the war is yet to come. Lucifer will be back and you will have to defeat him once more, for the fate of everyone” the booming voice said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suddenly the invisible hook behind my bellybutton was yanked on and I was once again, traveling at the speed of light, back into the present time.

“I’m sorry you had to cast your brother out, Michael” I whispered, letting go of the man’s hand and meeting his gaze full-on.

“I had to do what needed to be done, as I find myself having to do again” he gestured to the still-paused battle scene before us.

I gazed out over the scene and could see everyone’s injuries now.

Jody had a shard of glass that had impaled her thigh as she was clutching the wound, trying to get the bleeding to stop.

Rufus’ arm was clearly broken in at least two places and was sporting an obvious dislocated shoulder.

Bobby was clutching at his side, so I was guessing at least one broken rib that had probably impaled his lung, if his heavy wheezing was anything to go by.

Ellen’s nose was broken and bleeding profusely and she was clutching her side too.

Garth was knocked unconscious and was in a bloody heap.

Sam’s leg was bent at an unnatural angle, clearly broken, and his face and chest were all cut up from having been directly under the window as Cass was just flung through.

My friends…no, my _family_ , they were all going to die.

Me right along with them.

Unless I did something about it.

“Can you stop Lucifer…for good?” I asked the archangel.

“I can” he nodded. “But only with your help.”

“ _My_ help?” I repeated, bewildered.

How could I possibly help in an epic archangel battle?

“I have no body, Kristen” Michael reminded me. “I need a vessel in order to battle my brother’s vessel.”

I frowned at his words.

Was he saying what I thought he was saying?

“You want to possess me?” I asked in a poorly disguised horrified tone.

“Possession is something demons do and then they’re gone” Michael scoffed, shaking his head at me. “No, by letting me in, saying yes to me, you would become my earthly vessel, my anchor to earth. Then I could battle Lucifer and finish this once and for all.”

Something was bothering me.

This all sounded too good to be true, and Dean always said that if something seemed to good to be true, then it was.

If it was all that simple, why hadn’t Dean or Sam allowed Michael in before now?

“There’s something you’re not telling me” I pointed out the angel, crossing my arms over my chest. “Be honest with me, if it was that easy, Sam or Dean would’ve said yes a long time ago.”

“A _smart_ female Winchester” Michael smirked. “I have to appreciate that.”

The angel grew quiet for a long moment, no doubt, contemplating how honest to be with me.

“I have been here once before, with Dean" he started out saying. "The fate of the world came down to a showdown between me, Lucifer, Sam and Dean. Sam said yes to Lucifer, as he’s Lucifer’s true vessel, thinking he could overpower my brother and get him to jump right into a trap. Dean, well Dean had ignorant faith in his brother and refused me entrance. So the fate of the world rested on Sam trying to overpower Lucifer while Dean set up the trap” Michael explained in a bored tone.

“Well it worked then, right? I mean the world didn’t end, so Sam must’ve gained control over Lucifer” I replied.

“Yes and no. Sam was able to give Dean a moment to lay out the trap and Sam _did_ manage to make Lucifer jump into the trap…but it cost Sam his soul because he had to jump in with Lucifer, since Lucifer would not willingly come out of his vessel” Michael went on to explain.

“So where do you fit in on all this?” I asked the angel, making him meet my eyes. “Did you just stand by and watch it all happen? I mean _you’re_ the one god said would have to finish off Lucifer.”

“No, I didn’t just stand by and watch it all happen” Michael snapped at me and I flinched away from him, wary about pissing off an archangel who could end this conversation just as fast as he started it.

Michael seemed to understand that he scared me and took a deep breath and started again.

“The Winchesters prevented me from following my fate and tried to stop Lucifer on their own. And since Dean refused me, I had to find another vessel, one that wasn’t as strong as my brother’s, since it wasn’t my true vessel, and it failed me. Me and Lucifer _both_ fell into that trap and were trapped together for _ages_. My vessel eventually disintegrated and I was able to free myself of the cage and of purgatory and have been recovering ever since. I knew Lucifer would find a way topside, he always does. And he always _will_ , unless I stop him once and for all.”

“So what do you need from me?” I asked the archangel, afraid to hear his answer.

“I need you to say yes, to let me in and use you as my vessel. I _can_ stop Lucifer, but only _through_ you” Michael replied.

"I feel a _but_ coming on" I pointed out.

“ _But_ ” Michael smirked “if you say yes to me, it’s permanent. There’s no saying yes, just so I can kill Lucifer, and then we’re going on our separate ways. If you let me in, I’m in to stay. You’d be the anchor holding me to earth and I’m not going to just give that up so easily. I’ve been denied this pleasure many times. So you have to understand, that if you say yes, it’s yes forever” he laid it all out there for me.

I digested what he said to me for a moment.

“So I say yes, you go inside me, kill Lucifer and save everyone but I remain your vessel forever?” I summed it up.

“That is correct. That is my deal” Michael nodded.

“Can I have a moment to think about this?” I asked the angel.

He nodded again.

“I can’t freeze time indefinitely, Lucifer will eventually catch on, but I can spare several more minutes” Michael granted me.

I turned my back on the scene before me, and thought about it long and hard.

The ultimate sacrifice, that was what was at stake here.

Obviously, the moment the battle is over, Michael would leave.

Everyone would know what I had done, who I had let in, and would try to get him out. So Michael would leave and probably go far away from anyone who would know me, so he could get a fresh start with my body.

My body.

God.

That sounded so very wrong.

Once, I had talked to Cass about his vessel, Jimmy. 

After he gave me the gory details that eventually led to Jimmy sacrificing himself to Cass’s cause, we never talked about his vessel again.

I didn’t think I could stomach the thought of a human man sacrificing himself to an angel, never to see his family again, but also to help save them from a fate worse than death.

Now I could understand what a brave man Jimmy was.

I was, after all, in the same position he was in when he had to make that choice.

The only difference was that Michael wasn’t going to kill me.

I would spend the rest of my days sitting shotgun to the archangel’s fancies.

Never to see Dean’s beautiful face again.

Never to stare deeply into those emerald pools and feel loved and wanted and needed.

Never to see what’s to become of this new relationship we had only just started six months ago.

Never to have a family of my own…

“There’s something you should know” I hedged, glancing at Michael’s piercing blue eyes.

“You’re pregnant” Michael nodded, placing a hand on my belly. “Only about six weeks along. Does Dean know?” he asked me, throwing me a curveball.

I had no idea angels could tell the baby’s parentage, just by touching them.

But then again, there wasn’t much to be known about angels.

And speaking of being known…

> “Man I wish I could sneak into your room tonight” Dean purred in my ear, as we were stealing secret kisses in the hallway of Bobby and Ellen’s house. “You know I don’t sleep well without you.”
> 
> This was last night, the night before battle, and how I wished I had ignored my proper ways and allowed Dean to bunk with me last night.
> 
> “And you know I don’t either without you” I smiled up at the man, standing on my tiptoes to even out our heights. “But we’re not alone and no one knows about us yet and the eve of battle isn’t the time to be coming out to them.”
> 
> “Sammy knows” Dean said petulantly. “And maybe the eve of battle is the perfect time. I mean, young love and new hope and all that bullshit, right?”
> 
> “And Bobby’s gun and Ellen’s roundhouse kick…” I added and Dean sighed, placing his forehead on mine.
> 
> “You’re right, Kris, as you always are” he frowned. “I just hate not having you in my arms.”
> 
> “I know Dean, but it’s one night” I smiled at the man. “Tomorrow night, we’ll tell them.”
> 
> “Promise?” Dean asked, hope flying wildly in his eyes.
> 
> “Promise” I agreed and then he kissed me deeply, nearly bending me over from it.
> 
> “Guess we should get some sleep then” he said, pulling back from me.
> 
> I landed on my feet and nodded.
> 
> Then I remembered what I had wanted to talk to him about in the first place, and grabbed his hand to stop him from leaving.
> 
> “Dean?” I said softly, making him turn to meet my gaze again.
> 
> “Yeah Kris?” he smiled at me.
> 
> I opened my mouth to tell him my big news, but a nagging thought came to mind.
> 
> If Dean knew I was pregnant, that I was carrying his child, he would never allow me to go into battle tomorrow. He would tie me up or handcuff me to the bed or do _something_ to get me to stay at home safe. And we were taking on Lucifer, like _Satan_ Lucifer, there was no way I was going to put them a man down. Everyone needed to be there tomorrow for Dean’s plan to work. And I wasn’t going to jeopardize that.
> 
> Just then, we heard a floorboard creak and put some distance between us.
> 
> “It’s not important, tell you tomorrow, after we win” I white-lied to my boyfriend.
> 
> “You sure?” Dean asked and I knew he could tell that I was lying to him.
> 
> “Yep. I’m sure. Sweet dreams” I said in a sing-song voice, getting him to laugh and wish me the same.

"No, Dean doesn't know I'm carrying his child" I sheepishly admitted to the angel.

"I see" said Michael, gazing intensely at me. "And, I am to take it, that he's probably not aware that you two are siblings, either?" he guessed.

> Sometime later that same night, I was out in one of the garages, tinkering with one of the trucks that was on a lift.
> 
> Unable to sleep, I usually found myself tinkering on something with a motor.
> 
> It was one of the things that I had in common with Dean.
> 
> So when I heard the scuffing of footsteps, I smiled and turned, expecting to see Dean there.
> 
> Only it was Ellen.
> 
> I felt the smile fade from my lips and turned my attention back to the truck.
> 
> “Was expecting someone else?” Ellen said in a knowing tone.
> 
> “Me and Dean tend to tinker on cars when we can’t sleep” I shrugged, loosening one of the sparkplugs.
> 
> “You can’t sleep?” Ellen picked up on this.
> 
> “Nope. I’m worried” I admitted.
> 
> “About tomorrow?” Ellen asked, coming to stand next to me.
> 
> “Among other things, yeah” I sighed again, straightening up myself slightly.
> 
> It was hard to fight the urge to rub my belly.
> 
> But it would be a clear sign as to my pregnancy and until everyone knew about us, I couldn’t drop any red flags.
> 
> “You know I saw you with Dean tonight” Ellen surprised me by saying.
> 
> I stopped what I was doing and looked over at the woman.
> 
> She looked worried.
> 
> “Saw me with Dean how?” I asked, standing upright, taking in Ellen’s external emotions.
> 
> She looked concerned and slightly angry.
> 
> “Kissing in the hallway” Ellen frowned disapprovingly at me.
> 
> Which surprised me greatly.
> 
> Sure, I didn’t expect her or Bobby to be happy about us being together right away, but I wasn’t expecting her to come out of the gate with disapproval.
> 
> “Ok, so me and Dean are a thing” I admitted to her because if she was going to start in on me, might as well be as honest as I can, so everything’s out there.
> 
> “Well you and him need _not_ be a thing” Ellen said and I definitely detected anger in her voice. "He's no good for you, Kris."
> 
> “I understand that you’re trying to protect me and whatnot, but we can’t just _not_ be a thing” I said heatedly. “This has been a long time coming and I’m not just going to stop seeing the man because you don’t approve.”
> 
> “Do you even care why I don’t approve?” Ellen snapped at me, elevating this conversation to a full-blown argument now.
> 
> “Actually I don’t” I honestly replied and I knew that had to hurt her, but it was the truth. “I love Dean, I have for years. He loves me too. Don’t you go ruining a good thing I _finally_ got coming my way” I warned the woman I thought of like a mom.
> 
> “Well I don’t give a shit that you don’t care about what I have to say and I don’t give a shit that you guys are in love!” Ellen yelled at me. “And what would you know about love anyways?”
> 
> “I know that when I’m not with him, it hurts!” I shouted back, my anger rising to the boiling point. “I know that when Dean’s with me, I feel complete and not like the empty shell I usually feel like. One smile from him and everything is right in the world. I would sacrifice myself to give him just one more day on this earth. If that’s not love, then I guess you're right, I don’t know what love is” I snapped and started to walk away.
> 
> “Kristen! Wait!” Ellen shouted at me and grabbed my wrist spinning me around to face her once more. “You need to hear me out” she pleaded with me.
> 
> “No, you need to hear _me_ out” I growled, yanking my wrist back from her. “I love Dean and if you can’t support that, then I can’t be around you anymore. Sorry Ellen” I said and started to walk away again.
> 
> “You and Dean are brother and sister!” Ellen’s voice stopped me in my tracks.
> 
> “What?” I asked incredulously, turning around to meet Ellen’s eyes.
> 
> “You and Dean can’t be together because you’re related…you’re half brother and sister” Ellen repeated herself.
> 
> “No, that can’t be” I shook my head at the woman. “I’m younger than Dean but older than Sam. I have nothing to do with the Winchesters. Their mom was killed by a demon when Sam was a baby and my mom died at childbirth. Their dad died because of the same demon that took their mom and my dad died from cancer. Totally not possible.”
> 
> “You and the boys share a mom” Ellen spoke quieter now, coming closer to me. “Your dad told you that your mom died at childbirth because he knew the truth…Mary Winchester was just a fling and she wouldn’t come looking for a child she had out of wedlock with her husband, John. She actually gave you to your dad, telling him that she was going back to her husband and that she was sorry for leading him on.”
> 
> Ellen stopped and took in my expression and explained further.
> 
> “After Dean was born, Mary and John had a falling out. They went their separate ways, had their share of lovers and then came back together and had Sam. Obviously it was easier to tell you that your mom died in childbirth than she abandoned you and your father” she finished.
> 
> I was filled with a sense of dread.
> 
> My gut was telling me that what she was saying was true.
> 
> But I didn’t want to believe it.
> 
> My whole life has been a lie?
> 
> “No” I breathed, not wanting to hear anymore, as tears burned my eyes and streamed down my face.
> 
> But there was more to tell and Ellen was going to tell it all.
> 
> “About the time your dad got sick, John had finally tracked you guys down and got in touch with your dad. Now I don’t know what he told your dad, all I know is that when your father died, you came to live with me and Bobby and your ‘Uncle John’ stopped by from time to time to see you” Ellen hedged.
> 
> “Probably because I look so much like his Mary” I scoffed, remembering how Sam and Dean had a fifteen-minute conversation about how much I reminded them of their mother when I first met them.
> 
> “I don’t know why, Kristen” Ellen sighed. “But I do know he didn’t want this life for you. That he tried everything he could to keep you from it. Once you were college age, you were supposed to go away and do something great with your life.”
> 
> “And instead I saw a demon attack him and I saved him and demanded to know what was going on and squandered my life away in the hunting business” I snarked.
> 
> “I wouldn’t say that” Ellen frowned at my harsh words.
> 
> “Well _what_ would you say Ellen?” I yelled at the woman. “Everything I have been told, has been a lie. You and Bobby took me in, allowed me to get close to a family I never knew existed and lied about it the whole goddamn time! You allowed me to think…”
> 
> Without warning, a wave of motion sickness came over me and I was hurrying into the bushes to throw up. I felt Ellen there, pulling back my hair and rubbing my back. And as much as I wanted to push her away and yell at her some more, I didn’t. Yeah, she had lied to me, but she was the only family I had left in the world and I really needed family right now.
> 
> After I stopped retching, Ellen helped me onto my feet and gently wiped my mouth with a cloth that was sticking out her pocket.
> 
> “How long?” she asked me in a knowing tone, and I didn’t have it in me to feign ignorance.
> 
> “A couple weeks, I don’t know for sure” I croaked.
> 
> “Does Dean know?” she asked me next and I shook my head.
> 
> “I was going to tell him tonight, but I didn’t want him to stop me from fighting tomorrow” I replied.
> 
> “You _shouldn’t_ be fighting tomorrow, not in your condition” Ellen said, heating up again.
> 
> “Well unless you’re going to tell him, I _am_ fighting tomorrow” I pulled back some and met her eyes.
> 
> “It’s not my place to tell Dean that kind of thing” Ellen deflated and I nodded. “But he deserves to know.”
> 
> “Of course he does and he will…just not before tomorrow. He needs us all there and he needs to be focused on the task at hand. Not distracted by news” I wheezed, trying to steady my breath again, clutching onto my stomach, now that I didn’t need to hide it from her anymore. “Does he know about us?” I asked suddenly. “Does he know that we’re half-siblings?”
> 
> “No” Ellen was quick to say. “John was supposed to tell his boys about their half-sister, but he never did and I never found the right time. If Dean knew that you guys were related, he would’ve never risked a relationship with you and risk losing what little family he has left in the world.”
> 
> Oh god.
> 
> What would he do when he found out?
> 
> Would he demand an abortion?
> 
> Would he demand me to leave and never contact him again?
> 
> We were half-brother and sister...wasn't that still considered incest?
> 
> Wasn't that going against nature, keeping it in the family, in the bloodline?
> 
> Or do half siblings not count because of only one shared parent?
> 
> With all those crazy thoughts flooding my thoughts now, I found myself throwing up in hysterics once more.
> 
> Ellen got me calmed once more and was hugging me tightly this time.
> 
> “What am I going to do, Ellen?” I cried in the woman’s arms. “He has the right to know everything. What if he wants me to abort the baby? I can’t kill the life inside of me. It’s not its fault. And what if he demands that I go away? What if he’s disgusted with me and what we’ve done? I won’t be able to take rejection from him. I love him and I can’t live in a world he doesn’t want me” I wailed.

"No" I sighed heavily, meeting Michael's eyes again. "Dean doesn't know that either."

The angel arched his eyebrows at me in a questioning way and I grew defensive.

"I had only just found out yesterday and there were more important things to be worrying about than babies and bloodlines" I defended my actions, gesturing to Lucifer.

“Fair enough” Michael seemed pleased with my answer. “But you being pregnant _does_ put a damper in my plans” he mused, in deep thought.

Then he snapped his fingers.

“So counter-offer” he steepled his fingers, a small smile playing on his lips “The same terms as before apply…you say yes, you allow me in, I kill Lucifer and save everyone _and_ I keep your body as my own…but I accelerate your pregnancy.”

“What does that mean?” I frowned, not liking the sound of it.

“It means that after I stop Lucifer and everyone is safe, I transport you somewhere private and you have the baby. You’ll go from six weeks to full-term in a matter of minutes and you’ll deliver the baby right then and there, leaving it to whomever you want, complete with a note if you wish. Then I get to have you completely to myself. You won’t get control ever again” Michael spelled it out for me.

I turned to look at Dean's gorgeous face.

Could I say yes and never feel love again?

Could I say yes and abandon my baby, just as my mother had?

Could I say yes and never see Dean's beautiful face again or feel his loving touch?

The real question wasn't if I could say yes...it was if I could say _no_.

Could I say no and watch the life leave Dean's brilliant green eyes?

Could I say no and condemn the lives of everyone I considered family...even the unborn ones?

Could I say no, and survive by some odd chance, and live with myself knowing I had the chance to stop Lucifer and I didn't?

No I couldn't.

And I wouldn't.

"You'll stop Lucifer forever?" I asked Michael.

"I will" he promised me.

"And you'll keep my family safe, not just my bloodline, but everyone I love and consider family?" I asked.

"I will" he promised me again.

"And you won't tell Dean that we're related? I'm leaving him our baby, but if he finds out that we're brother and sister, it'll break him" I said in a shaky voice.

"He won't hear it from me" Michael promised.

I grew silent for a moment and sighed, staring down at Dean's marred, but still gorgeous, face.

“Soulmates are a tricky thing” Michael said, coming to stand next to me, staring down at Dean too. “You never know what form they’ll take until you know you can’t live in a world that they’re not in.”

“Me and Dean are soulmates?” I asked shocked.

“Yes, why do you sound so surprised? I can feel the chemistry you two have and I don’t know a thing about you, Kristen” Michael chuckled.

“Well we’re brother and sister...blood” I hedged. “Isn’t that against nature or something?”

“Incest is frowned down upon because inbreeding allows for defects, though that’s not always the case" Michael explained, chuckling and shaking his head. "But what you and Dean have isn’t like that. Soulmates don’t work like that. There are no rules or guidelines with soulmates. They have their own magic, if you will. You two have the strongest connection I have seen in centuries. When it comes to soulmates, blood is actually a factor used in choosing them. The strongest pairs are made from the same building blocks.”

Michael let that sink in for a moment, before he spoke again.

“The question you have to ask yourself is...are you going to let your soulmate die, when you can save him _and_ your baby?” he whispered.

I tore my gaze from Dean’s face and met Michael’s eyes.

“No I’m not” I said in a determined voice. “You have my permission Michael.”

Immediately, a bright blue light filled the space, accompanied by a high-pitch buzzing sound.

It got brighter and louder until it consumed me whole.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I looked up at my reflection in the living room mirror, shocked to find my eyes glowing unnaturally blue.

“That was the most disgusting thing I have ever witnessed…and I just eviscerated my brother" I saw my mouth moving, but it wasn’t my voice coming from it.

It was Michael's.

He was having a conversation with me from within me.

And despite the situation and what I knew was coming, I laughed.

“I thought child births were considered miracles by your kind. Aren’t miracles beautiful?” I asked my reflection, noting how surreal my situation currently was.

The blue eyes took over again.

“The birth of a child is a miracle. But whoever said they were beautiful, has never actually _seen_ one” Michael made a face.

It was silent for a long moment.

“Are you ready?” he asked me finally.

I sighed and looked down at my baby girl.

I gently stroked her cheek, so as not to wake her.

Tears filled my eyes and I wiped them away roughly.

Dean and our baby was alive and was alive because of Michael.

A deal was a deal.

And he had kept his end of the deal.

Now it was time to keep mine.

I touched the two envelopes that I had laid down on the baby’s blanket.

One was labeled to Dean, the other to Ellen.

I looked back in the mirror and nodded.

“I’m ready” I consented.

Glowing blue eyes took over my reflection once more, only this time, I was no longer in control of my body or my actions.

Michael had taken the reigns and was in full command now.

With my last bit of consciousness, I witnessed my hand picking up the note labeled to Dean and watched it going up in flames in my hand, burning it before my very eyes.

“Trust me, Kristen, it’s better this way” Michael’s voice filled my head and then blackness took over.


	2. Soulmates Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who knew the lengths at which Soulmates could break all the rules?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 of 3

**Dean's POV**

When Kristen squeezed my hand, I met her eyes and gasped at what I saw there.

Her beautiful sea-green eyes had been replaced by glowing blue orbs.

The eyes of an angel.

Immediately, I knew what she had done.

"No!" I found myself yelling.

The suddenly, I was being flung away from her.

I remembered great pain to the back of my head and then blackness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Dean!" I heard my name shouted and I started to rouse awake.

"What happened?" I mumbled, coming completely to.

Then I remembered glowing blue eyes and swore.

"Oh god, Kristen!" I gasped and got up too fast, making the world spin dangerously.

"Take it easy Dean" Cass remonished me, steadying me on my feet.

"Take it easy?!" I shouted at the angel. "Did you see her eyes, Cass? She let him in!" 

"I didn't have to see her eyes to know that Dean" Cass frowned at me. "I can see my brothers and sisters through their vessels" he reminded me.

“See who through vessels?” Sam interjected. “What’s going on? How is Lucifer dead and we’re all ok, like nothing happened?” he demanded to know, patting himself, in awe of his wound-free state.

I looked around and took in everyone’s appearance.

It was as if someone used a magical _all-heal_ spell and everything was ok again.

No broken bones, no dislocated joints, no scratches, cuts or abrasions.

Just dried up blood from where the wounds _used_ to be.

Then I saw the scorch mark of an angel, plastered against the wall.

So it was true.

Lucifer was dead.

“Dean!” Sam yelled my name to get me to focus on him and get me to answer his question.

“Oh come on Sam!” I yelled back. “Isn’t it obvious?! Kristen said yes to Michael and now he’s wearing her around like a fur coat.”

“Cass, is that true?” Sam turned to the angel now. “Did Kristen let Michael in?”

“I’m afraid she has” Cass replied in a quiet tone. “And he has no intentions on coming out of her. He will mostly likely ride her until her soul grows weak and leaves her body.”

“Then what happens to her?” I demanded to know.

“Well she’s an innocent, so her soul will go to Heaven, where it belongs. But Michael will remain in her body, and as long as he does, she won’t be able to take solid form in heaven” Cass explained.

“So what happens to her soul if it doesn’t have a solid form to take?” Ellen asked next.

“It will wander around, restless, until it can be reunited with her body” Cass sounded ashamed to admit such a thing.

And we all knew why.

Jimmy, his vessel, his soul was wandering around heaven restlessly, while Cass was using his body.

It was hard to remember that Cass was wearing a meatsuit at times.

We were so used to Cass and his accountant look.

We didn’t want to remember that he was once a human being who had sacrificed himself to the greater good.

“Why the fuck would she do this?!” I growled, running my hands through my hair and pulling at it roughly. “Why did she think she had no other choice?”

“She did it because she loves us…she loves you Dean” Ellen said softly, placing a caring hand on my arm. “She probably felt she had no other choice. Nothing waiting for her after the war was over.”

“And why would she think that, Ellen” I snapped, jerking back from her, red-hot anger spiking through me. “Why would Kristen _possibly_ think she’d have no future with me?”

Ellen’s eyes widened in surprise.

“You heard us last night” she gasped.

“I heard every single fucking word” I seethed.

> “I don’t give a shit that you guys are in love!” I heard Ellen yell.
> 
> Wondering who the hell she was yelling at, I moved closer.
> 
> I had never heard the woman so angry before.
> 
> Then I saw her with Kristen.
> 
> Both of their faces were red with anger and defiance.
> 
> “And what would you know about love anyways?” Ellen tacked on.
> 
> “I know that when I’m not with him, it hurts!” Kristen yelled back in response. “I know that when Dean’s with me, I feel complete and not like the empty shell I usually feel like. One smile from him and everything is right in the world. I would sacrifice myself to give him just one more day on this earth. If that’s not love, then I guess you're right, I don’t know what love is.”
> 
> Oh god.
> 
> Kristen loved me.
> 
> I thought I was the only one who felt that way about the other.
> 
> It scared me to love someone so quickly and so completely, that wasn’t family.
> 
> But knowing that she loved me just as much as I loved her, it eased the anxiety.
> 
> I was no longer scared of telling her.
> 
> She needed to know before we went into battle tomorrow, that I loved her...in case something was to happen.
> 
> Kristen started to storm away from Ellen and I was about to move so I could intercept her before she headed back into the house and we could have a talk.
> 
> “Kristen, wait!” Ellen shouted, going after her and grabbing her wrist. “You need to hear me out.”
> 
> Now I was pissed at Ellen.
> 
> Just let Kristen go and cool off.
> 
> It wasn’t her place to approve or disapprove of who Kristen can love.
> 
> “No, you need to hear me out” Kristen growled and yanked her wrist from Ellen.
> 
> I had never heard Kristen so pissed and so defiant before.
> 
> It was actually a turn on.
> 
> Mix that with the fact that she was sticking up for us, I was _beyond_ turned on.
> 
> “I love Dean and if you can’t support that, then I can’t be around you anymore. Sorry Ellen” Kristen confidently said, clearly putting an end to the argument.
> 
> I had never loved someone as much as I loved Kristen in that moment.
> 
> I was so caught up in my own feelings that I missed what Ellen had said in response.
> 
> It had to be something major to get Kristen to turn around like she did.
> 
> “What?” Kristen asked, sounding appalled at whatever it was Ellen had said.
> 
> "You and Dean can’t be together because you’re related…you’re half brother and sister" Ellen shocked me by saying. 
> 
> What in the hell was the woman trying to pull?
> 
> There was no way in hell me and Kristen we related...none.
> 
> My parents had been together since I came to be and were together until mom died.
> 
> If dad had another kid after mom died, they would be younger than Sam.
> 
> And Kristen wasn't younger than Sam, she was older, but younger than me.
> 
> I was so confused, but I could tell I wasn't the only one.
> 
> Kristen's expression was dumbfounded.
> 
> “No, that can’t be” Kristen said in a shaky voice. “I’m younger than Dean but older than Sam. I have nothing to do with the Winchesters. Their mom was killed by a demon when Sam was a baby and my mom died at childbirth. Their dad died because of the same demon that took their mom and my dad died from cancer. Totally not possible.”
> 
> Clearly me and Kristen were thinking along the same line of reasoning.
> 
> It was one of the reasons we got along so well.
> 
> Sam always teased us that our chemistry was due to the fact that Kristen was a female version of me and I was a male version of her.
> 
> Ellen looked pained, walking closer to Kristen and lowering her voice, like what she was about to say would change the fate of the world.
> 
> And it did.
> 
> “You and the boys share a mom. Your dad told you that your mom died at childbirth because he knew the truth…Mary Winchester was just a fling and she wouldn’t come looking for a child she had out of wedlock with her husband, John. She actually gave you to your dad, telling him that she was going back to her husband and that she was sorry for leading him on” Ellen said in a morose tone.
> 
> Kristen looked scared.
> 
> I was _still_ confused.
> 
> And I think Ellen knew she needed to do some further explaining.
> 
> “After Dean was born, Mary and John had a falling out. They went their separate ways, had their share of lovers and then came back together and had Sam. Obviously it was easier to tell you that your mom died in childbirth than she abandoned you and your father” Ellen continued.
> 
> “No” Kristen breathed.
> 
> She was begging Ellen not to continue.
> 
> I could see the war in her eyes.
> 
> She didn’t want to believe what Ellen was saying, but she was beginning to.
> 
> “About the time your dad got sick, John had finally tracked you guys down and got in touch with your dad. Now I don’t know what he told your dad, all I know is that when he died, you came to live with me and Bobby and your ‘Uncle John’ stopped by from time to time to see you” Ellen finished.
> 
> I had never questioned the “stray” that Bobby and Ellen had suddenly taken in.
> 
> Not even when she took to calling my dad “Uncle John”.
> 
> When your family isn’t _blood_ , you have so many uncles and aunts and cousins than you can count.
> 
> I just thought that dad wanted to make sure Bobby and Ellen were doing ok, taking in a teenager when they had no kids on their own.
> 
> I never thought he would be checking in on the girl they took in.
> 
> But why?
> 
> If dad knew that his wife had had a child out of wedlock, why did he care so much about her?
> 
> Wasn’t she living proof that mom had cheated on him?
> 
> And then it hit me...about the same time it seemed to have struck Kristen.
> 
> “Probably because I look so much like his Mary” Kristen scoffed, reaching the same conclusion I had.
> 
> It was kind of sick and twisted that you cared about an illegitimate child _because_ they reminded you of your dead wife.
> 
> It made me sick just _thinking_ about it.
> 
> I could only imagine what Kristen was feeling.
> 
> “I don’t know why, Kristen” Ellen sighed and I was sure because she thought the same thing but didn’t want to admit it. “But I do know he didn’t want this life for you. That he tried everything he could to keep you from it. Once you were college age, you were supposed to go away and do something great with your life.”
> 
> Ok.
> 
> I had always wondered why Kristen never showed an interest or acknowledgment in hunting, in the beginning.
> 
> Why me and Sam could never talk hunting around her.
> 
> It was because the adults didn’t want her to go down the dark path we all were following.
> 
> They wanted something different for her, which was understandable and commendable.
> 
> How many good people have lost their innocence to hunting?
> 
> Sam was one of them.
> 
> Jody, Charlie and Kevin, three more.
> 
> So what changed that made her the hunter she was today?
> 
> If Kristen wasn’t destined for hunting, why was she one of the best hunters I knew?
> 
> “And instead I saw that werewolf attack John and I saved him and demanded to know what was going on and squandered my life away in the hunting business” Kristen snarked back with.
> 
> Ah.
> 
> That made perfect sense now.
> 
> Once you see evil, you can't _unsee_ it.
> 
> That explained why suddenly Kristen was thrown under my watchful eye and I was in charge of teaching her everything I knew about hunting.
> 
> We all had sad stories, losses that led us into hunting.
> 
> I had always wondered why Kristen hadn’t lost anyone to hunting, but was vastly becoming one the best hunters I had ever seen.
> 
> It always brought me a sense of pride knowing that someday soon, the Padwon was going to outdo the Jedi.
> 
> “I wouldn’t say that” Ellen frowned at Kristen’s harsh words.
> 
> But seriously Ellen, what did you expect her to feel?
> 
> Everyone had been lying to her all of her life.
> 
> She found out that she’s had this secret family, a family member that she had fallen in love with and was actually sleeping with, and yet Ellen expected her to be nonplus about everything?
> 
> Kristen was actually _underreacting_ in my opinion.
> 
> Until...
> 
> “Well what would you say Ellen?!” Kristen screamed, clearly having reached her limit. “Everything I have been told, has been a lie. You and Bobby took me in, allowed me to get close to a family I never knew existed and lied about it the whole goddamn time! You allowed me to think…”
> 
> Suddenly, Kristen looked ill.
> 
> It was a look I had recently become acquainted with.
> 
> I thought she was coming down with something and I told her that she needed to go to the doctor.
> 
> She told me she had today while she was in town getting supplies, but they just thought it was stress or a cold or both.
> 
> I told her that after the battle tomorrow, she was to be on rest until she felt better.
> 
> She reluctantly agreed, which made me chuckle.
> 
> Kristen never wanted to be coddled or looked after.
> 
> She preferred to do the coddling, or mother-henning, as Sam called it.
> 
> Secretly though, Sam loved it, though he would never admit it.
> 
> He didn’t have a mom growing up as I did, for a brief part of my childhood. He never felt a mom kiss away his boo-boos or make him chicken soup when he was kiss or just hug him with “mom arms” and let him know everything was going to be ok.
> 
> Now, as far as I knew, Kristen hadn’t kissed his boo-boos, but she always made sure to tend to all of his wounds and she has made chicken soup for Sam when he was running a fever and just hugged him tightly when he was down…everything a mom, or older sister as it turned out, was _supposed_ to do.
> 
> Movement caught my eye and I saw Kristen run off to the side of the garage and fall to her knees, immediately retching.
> 
> I very nearly ran over to her, but I knew that wouldn’t help the situation.
> 
> I had no idea how she felt about us being related and how she would feel about it knowing we had been intimate.
> 
> _I_ wasn’t sure how I felt about it.
> 
> “How long?” I heard Ellen’s motherly tone take over, now that emotions had reached a breaking point.
> 
> How long since what?
> 
> God, there I go spacing out again and missing the conversation.
> 
> “A couple of weeks, I don’t know for sure” Kristen’s weak voice croaked in response.
> 
> A couple of weeks for what?
> 
> Panic started to fill me.
> 
> Did Kristen lie to me when she said she was ok?
> 
> Was there something worse going on here that she wasn’t telling me?
> 
> I shifted a little so I could see them better.
> 
> Ellen had Kristen’s long blonde hair wrapped around her fist so it was out of her face and her other hand was on Kristen’s back, rubbing it soothingly.
> 
> "Does Dean know?" Ellen asked.
> 
> Kristen shook her head.
> 
> “I was going to tell him tonight, but I didn’t want him to stop me from fighting tomorrow” she replied softly.
> 
> So Kristen _was_ going to tell me something before we parted ways tonight.
> 
> She was a really good liar, could sweet-talk her way out of anything.
> 
> But I was Kristen's weakness.
> 
> Yes, her charm worked on me, but I could _read_ her.
> 
> No one else could.
> 
> She was also _my_ weakness.
> 
> She could read me better than anyone else ever has.
> 
> “Well you _shouldn’t_ be fighting tomorrow, not in your condition” Ellen’s voice was heating up again.
> 
> Oh god.
> 
> What condition?
> 
> What was _so_ bad that Kristen thought I would stop her from fighting tomorrow?
> 
> I needed _everyone_ there, if we had a chance at defeating Lucifer.
> 
> “Well unless you’re going to tell him, I _am_ fighting tomorrow” Kristen defiantly said, pulling back from Ellen and meeting her eyes.
> 
> “It’s not my place to tell Dean that kind of thing, but he deserves to know” Ellen’s heat cooled off.
> 
> “Of course he does and he will…just not before tomorrow. He needs us all there and he needs to be focused on the task at hand. Not distracted by news” Kristen responded and it did nothing to ease the worry that was quickly growing in the pit of my stomach.
> 
> What news was _so_ bad, she was scared of telling me.
> 
> “Does he know about us? Does he know we’re half-siblings?” Kristen suddenly asked.
> 
> “No” Ellen replied quickly.
> 
> And that was the truth.
> 
> Had I known or even _thought_ we could be related, I of course wouldn’t have sought out a relationship with Kristen.
> 
> “John was supposed to tell his boys about their half-sister, but he never did and I never found the right time. If Dean knew that you guys were related, he would’ve never risked a relationship with you and risk losing what little family he has left in the world” Ellen confidently said.
> 
> But I wasn’t looking at Ellen.
> 
> I was looking at Kristen and how she had just paled.
> 
> Suddenly she was retching again, only this time it seemed more violent, more angry.
> 
> What had she thought of that made her so sick?
> 
> Was she thinking the same things I was…that this was wrong?
> 
> What we had, what we did, wasn’t that going against nature?
> 
> Half or not, Kristen was still _blood._
> 
> And you don’t fuck around with blood.
> 
> It took longer than normal, but Ellen finally got Kristen to calm down enough to breathe and stop heaving.
> 
> “What am I going to do Ellen?” she cried in Ellen’s arms, as the woman held her close as a mother would’ve.
> 
> There was something in her tone.
> 
> Something I knew I was missing.
> 
> Sure, finding out that the love of your life is really your half-brother, is world-altering.
> 
> But there was something more to it than that, something deeper.
> 
> Something major I was missing.
> 
> The Kristen kept talking...and I quickly found out what I was missing, why things were much more complicated than I had originally thought.
> 
> “He has the right to know everything. What if he wants me to abort the baby? I can’t kill the life inside of me. It’s not its fault. And what if he demands that I go away? What if he’s disgusted with me and what we’ve done? I won’t be able to take rejection from him. I love him and I can’t live in a world he’s not in or doesn’t want me” Kristen wailed.
> 
> Ellen wrapped her arms around Kristen tightly, and both women started to make their way back to the house.
> 
> I, however, remained frozen to the spot.
> 
> Baby?
> 
> Kristen was pregnant?
> 
> She was carrying a life inside of her that was part me and part her?
> 
> Oh my god, what had I done?
> 
> Now everything made sense.
> 
> You find out you’re sleeping with your half-brother, it’ll take time, but you can deal with the situation.
> 
> You find out that you’re carrying your half-brother’s child…how does one wrap their mind around that?
> 
> Forget about me and my thoughts and feelings...I only had feelings for Kristen and what she’s going through…the complete chaos that was in her mind.
> 
> Not only does she find out that her entire life has been a lie, but she finds out that the love of her life, the father of her unborn child, is her half-brother?
> 
> I couldn’t fathom what she has to be thinking.
> 
> And on the eve of such a huge battle.
> 
> The fight.
> 
> No.
> 
> There was no way in hell I was going to allow her to fight…only, this was _exactly_ what she was afraid of happening.
> 
> I’d find out and prevent her from fighting.
> 
> But how can I possibly allow her to fight tomorrow, knowing that there’s a good chance of all of us dying, when she’s carrying my child?
> 
> _Because it's the right thing to do, Dean_. I heard my mother's voice reply to my thoughts.
> 
> I wheeled around, expecting to see her standing there, but I was all alone.
> 
> Now I’ve heard my mother’s voice before, repeating words I have heard her say to me when I was young, to help in a situation.
> 
> But this was different.
> 
> Mom’s never said those words to me and they were in _direct_ response to my question.
> 
> Spinning around again, just to be sure, I ran my hand through my hair and took a deep breath.
> 
> I was still alone.
> 
> Jesus Christ!
> 
> I was losing my mind...only, I wasn't.
> 
> Mom’s words _were_ in response to my question.
> 
> So I had to take that as a sign.
> 
> “So I’m just supposed to let the woman I love more than life itself, carrying a little life inside of her, I’m just supposed to let her fight beside me against the strongest evil there is, Lucifer himself?” I found myself asking aloud into the darkness.
> 
> _Yes, it's where she belongs, son, besides you, always_ my mother's voice immediately said. 
> 
> Again, I swung around, but no one but me was there.
> 
> “I can’t mom” I found myself replying emotionally. “I love her too much. I can’t live in a world she’s not in.”
> 
> Silence met my emotionally charged words.
> 
> “Mom?” I called out, feeling like a total idiot for doing so.
> 
> My mother had been dead for years now.
> 
> To think that she was somehow guiding me, it was stupid.
> 
> Wasn't it?
> 
> I couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t idiotic. 
> 
> It was a sign and I needed to listen to her.
> 
> Stranger things have happened in less dire times.
> 
> As my thoughts turned back to Kristen, I was once again plagued by what she was feeling, what Ellen had made her feel.
> 
> Her life was a lie and now she was pregnant and felt all alone.

"You heard everything, but yet you _allowed_ her to go into this fight, knowing what was at risk?" Ellen asked me, sounding appalled.

"What was at risk?" Sam and Bobby asked at the same time.

“I didn’t _allow_ Kristen to do anything” I seethed at the woman. “We talked this morning and I asked her if she was sure she wanted to go through with the plan. It was _her_ choice. She knew the risks but still told me that she belonged at my side in the battle. I wasn’t going to fight her. It’s not my place to tell her that I overheard you guys. I was allowing her to come to me when she was ready to talk about it.”

> “Good morning” Kristen said in a trying-too-hard-to-be-in-a-good-mood voice, as I walked into the kitchen. “Coffee is finally ready. Bobby really needs to break down and get a new one. Duct tape doesn’t fix everything!” she shouted the last words.
> 
> “Heard that and it does!” Bobby shouted back from inside of his study.
> 
> Kristen smiled at his words, but then a frown started to form on her lips.
> 
> “Dean, what’s wrong?” she frowned up at me.
> 
> “Where is everyone at?” I asked her, ignoring her question.
> 
> “Well, Sam and Garth are in one of the garages trying to teach Kevin how to change a tire, just in case. Charlie, Jody and Ellen went into town for some milk, eggs and bread, because apparently, I forgot it on the list yesterday, which I totally didn’t. They were not on the list or I would’ve obviously picked them up. And Bobby is in his study, looking over the plan one more time” Kristen answered my question without a second thought. “Why? What’s wrong Dean? You look…terrified” she settled on.
> 
> Again, I didn’t answer her.
> 
> I took her coffee cup from her and placed it next to her hip.
> 
> Then I cupped her face with both of my hands and bent down, sealing my lips with hers and kissing her deeply.
> 
> I had spent the entire night thinking and cursing the world.
> 
> But when the sun rose, I came to the simple conclusion that I didn’t fucking care.
> 
> I didn’t care that we were blood and I didn’t care if everyone disapproved of us being together, for whatever reason.
> 
> I loved Kristen and I loved the child she was carrying.
> 
> And I would do everything I could to make this work.
> 
> I could feel the terror and the fear in her kiss.
> 
> I could also feel her love and her relief.
> 
> “What was that for?” Kristen gasped for breath when our kiss broke.
> 
> “For a little while” I smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear. “It’ll have to tide you over until after the battle when we tell everyone about us.”
> 
> I was testing the waters.
> 
> Kristen had no idea that I knew everything.
> 
> So this was my sneaky way of getting a feel for her mindset.
> 
> Fear glinted in her eyes, followed by worry and anxiety.
> 
> “It’s you and me kid” I added, hoping to take away her fears.
> 
> It worked.
> 
> Kristen rolled her eyes at me and scoffed.
> 
> “I’m a year younger than you Dean, I’m not a kid” she gave me her usual banter and relief started to fill her sea-green eyes.
> 
> “Anyone younger than me is a kid” I gave her my usual quip back. “Hey” I said, making her meet my eyes again. “You sure about going into battle today?” I couldn’t help but to ask her.
> 
> “You’re not getting cold feet on me Winchester, are you?” she smirked up at me.
> 
> I had to laugh at her sass.
> 
> Again, it was one of the reasons we connected as well as we did.
> 
> “I’m just making sure you weren’t getting cold feet, Nolan” I replied, making her laugh as well.
> 
> “I’m nervous, scared even” she openly admitted to me. “I mean this is the devil we’re talking about, the ultimate evil. So of course I’m scared. But yes, Dean. I’m sure about going into battle today. You’ll be there and that’s all the backup I need.”
> 
> And wow.
> 
> After every single little thing she had been through in the last 24 hours alone, she was still willing to play my shotgun.
> 
> There weren’t words as to how much I loved that woman.
> 
> I opened my mouth, probably to tell her as much, but then the front door opened and Kristen pulled back from me, putting space between us once again.
> 
> The moment was gone.

"What did you overhear?" Garth asked now.

“It’s your place to protect what is yours” Ellen grew even angrier at me.

“Oh and you should talk” I snapped at Ellen. “You’ve lied to her all of her life and then choose the eve of battle to drop bombshells on her? She needed support and understanding and you came at her with defiance and hostility.”

"Lied to her about what?" Jody asked.

"I think we're missing something here" Garth hedged.

"Oh no shit, Sherlock" Sam snapped at the man.

I ignored them.

“Short of tying her up or having Cass transport her somewhere far away, Kristen would come to the battle no matter what” I pointed out. “She needed support and encouragement and that’s exactly what I gave her.”

“Then why the hell are you so pissed about her letting Michael in?” Ellen yelled.

“Because she let Michael in!” I yelled back. “Saying yes to Michael was _not_ part of the plan! She wasn’t supposed to let the lesser of two evils in, just to save us!”

“She did it to save the world Dean, not just us” Sam uselessly pointed out.

“Yeah, well no one asked her to!” I shot back.

“Like I didn’t ask you to make a deal to bring me back from the dead?” Sam replied.

“Or like the deal you made with Crowley to kill Dick and put you and Cass in Purgatory?” Bobby added.

“Those times are not like this time” I stubbornly argued, knowing damn-well they were _exactly_ like this time.

“They aren’t like this time, only because it’s someone _else_ making the sacrifice for you, Dean” Jody said softly. “Kristen wanted to save the man she loved and she did what she had to, to make it happen. She’s a hero.”

“Well I didn’t ask her to be a hero” I said in a defeated tone.

“Heroes are made by their own choices, not by the choices made for them” Cass quietly added.

Reality was crashing down around me and was drowning me.

I felt like I couldn’t breathe.

Suddenly, I was surrounded by people.

Everyone was closing in around me, hugging me tightly.

A few were crying, mourning my loss.

I knew I couldn’t stop the tears that were flowing freely.

“Is everyone ready to get out of here?” Cass asked and we all nodded.

For a sickening second, we were all transported back to Bobby’s and Ellen’s.

We hadn’t driven to ground zero, Cass had given us all a lift there. 

I was the first person to climb the porch steps, ready to find the nearest liquor bottle and drink myself stupid, when I heard a strange noise from inside the house.

I put my hand up and everyone immediately fell silent.

I took out my gun and turned on hunting mode, silently heading inside towards the source of the noise.

If I wasn’t mistaken, the closer I got to it, the more it sounded like…

As I rounded the couch, I saw it.

There, swaddled up in a blanket, was a baby.

The baby was cooing and giggling, clearly entertaining itself while it was alone.

“What is it Dean?” Sam asked.

“A baby” I replied, finding myself drawn to the child.

“Did he say a baby?” I heard Ellen say and she pushed her way up front, past Sam, so she was standing next to me.

“There’s a note with your name on it” I uselessly pointed to the paper on the blanket.

Ellen picked up the envelope and opened it, starting to read it silently to herself.

She gasped and began to cry.

“You should read this Dean” Ellen said, handing me the note.

With shaky hands, I took it from her and began to read it...

**Ellen,**

**There’s so much to say and so little time to say it. By now you know of the choice I made to let Michael in. I’m not asking for forgiveness or understanding. I did what I thought was right to save my family and to stop Lucifer once and for all. Only Michael had the power to kill Lucifer and he could only do it through his true vessel…which surprise, was me. Me and Dean share his side of the bloodline and Dean would never say yes, so it was left up to me, because as you know, we’re siblings. Why is there a baby on your couch? Because she’s mine. The deal I made with Michael didn’t involve a child, so he accelerated my pregnancy and I gave birth to her. He allowed me to give birth to her in a safe place and leave her with people I trust, ensuring her safety. So this is where I leave things. I know you’ll decide what’s best. You know, I always wanted to be just like my mother…looks like I got my wish.**

**~Kristen~**

I reread the note twice.

Nothing.

No mention of me.

No mention of her love for me.

No goodbye.

Nothing.

Taking a deep breath, I handed Ellen the note back and walked towards the kitchen.

“Maybe she couldn’t write to you Dean” Ellen tried to reason. “Maybe _he_ wouldn’t let her.”

“Yeah, maybe” I seethed and brushed past everyone.

I heard Ellen say “Just let him go” before I rounded into the kitchen.

I went straight for the liquor cabinet.

I was going to get plastered, then decide what I was going to do with myself.

I yanked open the cabinet door and froze.

There before me was another envelope.

This one addressed to me and my eyes only.

So Kristen _had_ written me a note.

A secret note, by the looks of it.

I heard footsteps coming my way and I snatched the envelope up, along with a full bottle of Jack and headed outside, where I could have some privacy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I stared at the envelope in my hands.

Did I have the balls to read it?

Would she explain everything or just leave me with more questions than answers?

It was obvious that because it was hidden away, it was a secret note that Michael had no idea she had written to me.

I owed her to at least read it.

Taking a deep breath, I ripped open the envelope and began to read...

**Dean Bean,**

**So obviously if you’re reading this, I know you as well as I hoped I did and knew that you would be hurt and angry at my other note that I made no mention of you, that you would immediately turn to alcohol. It’s the Winchester way, as you once told me.**

**I’m writing this to you in secret because something tells me that Michael wants you to hate me and wants you never forgive me. Maybe if you hated me and you were so angry at me, you won’t look for me once the smoke clears. I’m going to leave you a note anyways, right next to Ellen’s. So if you don’t see it there, then he’s destroyed it and I’m right.**

**I’m writing you this note in between contractions. It seems that when my body convulses with pain, Michael has no choice but to vacate momentarily. The pain is just that bad. So I write when he’s not there and hide it when he comes back.**

**Dean…I don’t know where to even start. So much has happened in such a little time. I know you’re pissed at me for saying yes to Michael but I won’t ask for forgiveness. I did what I believed was right and I’m not sorry. I love you with my very being and if by sacrificing myself grants you one more day on earth, then I will do so, gladly. Yeah, I love you. You deserve to hear that in person, but we’ll never have that chance now, so this has to do. I probably shouldn’t love you, or at least not for as long as I have. Until recently, you never really gave me anything to go by that you could possibly love me back. But still…I love you Dean Winchester. It’s scary and it’s overwhelming, but it’s my salvation and what will be getting me through the rest of my days…my love for you.**

**That being said, I have a bomb to drop on you…I’m pregnant, or well, I was. Six weeks along. I had no idea. I guess it was just meant to be. I’m sure you read Ellen’s note, so you already know about my accelerated birthing process…so I’m asking you to unfairly do something for me, in memory of me, if you will.**

**Take care of our little girl. Get out of hunting, retire someplace warm all the time, get a job being a mechanic and raise our little girl. Give her all the opportunities that were denied to us and spoil her every single day. Find someone new, start a family…just live Dean. Live for me, live for our baby, live for your brother, live for you. There will always be another baddie, another family to save. When will it be enough? When you’re dead? No. Break the Winchester tradition with our little girl.**

**Our little girl. Man that sounds weird. I’m going to miss her and I don’t even know her. I wasn’t able to grow big and round with her. I wasn’t able to see pictures of her growing inside of me. I wasn’t able to tell you the news and see your reaction. I wasn’t able to feel your hand on my belly, feeling her kick. I’m not going to be able to hold her or kiss her boo-boos or tuck her in at night. I won’t see her grow up strong like her daddy, get her first car, graduate college, start her own family. I won’t get to hear her first word or see her take her first steps. But you get to Dean. Please don’t waste the chance at seeing your daughter grown up into a woman.**

**Family first, always.**

**I have to wrap this note up, it’s getting harder to write through the pain and I don’t want Michael getting wind of what I’m doing. I don’t think there is even the slightest bit of a chance that you could get Michael to leave me, not without him hurting me or ripping me apart. He made it very clear that I was his “anchor to the earth” and he wasn’t going to be parted from me. So this has to be goodbye. I won’t see you again and that’s what I’m going to miss most…your gorgeous green eyes, staring into mine, looking at me like I’m the answer to all your questions. Never did understand how you could look at me like that.**

**Curiously enough, Michael mentioned that we were soulmates, “the strongest I have seen in centuries”, were his exact words. He actually had a lot to say about soulmates, like they have their own set of rules and guidelines, “magic” is what he called it. It figures that I would meet my soulmate and not be able to grow old with him.**

**I love you Dean Winchester, please remember that.**

**“Everything I do, I do it for you.”**

**(Yeah, I quoted sappy Bryan Adams, but it’s true.)**

**Take care of yourself and take care of little Mary.**

**~KrisKat~**

God.

I grabbed the whiskey, which was half-empty, and downed the rest of it in one go.

I needed a long moment to process everything I had just read.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The house grew immediately silent as I stepped into the living room.

Ellen was holding the baby, sitting in the rocking chair.

Everyone was looking at me warily, each with a different expression…surprise, anxiousness, curiosity and disgust to mention a few.

The disgusted look was coming from Charlie, who I was sure was disgusted with how I looked and smelled and not because of anything she might have found out about me and Kristen.

I was positive that Ellen and Bobby would take that information to the grave.

I didn’t say a word to anyone and walked through the living room, upstairs and right into Kristen’s room.

I closed the door and threw myself onto her bed.

Oh god, the pillow smelled just like her.

And like that, I was bawling my eyes out, not for the first, or last time, that day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Running a hand through my damp hair, I took a deep breath and headed out of the bathroom.

The shower I just had was refreshing and allowed me time to gather myself and my thoughts.

Everyone fell silent once more, as I entered the living room.

I looked to Ellen now and she nodded, standing up from the chair and allowing me to take her place.

Once I was settled, she placed the slightly squirming little bundle in my arms.

I was so afraid that I would just snap her in half, she was so tiny compared to me.

I looked down at the tiny face that staring up at me in awe.

My little girl had her mother’s eyes.

“Hey Mary” I cooed down at the baby and she let out a peel of laughter that made everyone in the room smile.

Whether it was at her laugh or her name, I wasn’t sure.

But it didn’t matter.

This little girl was loved and wanted and would change the lives of everyone in this very room.

Just as her mom had done.


	3. Soulmates Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who knew the lengths at which Soulmates could break all the rules?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 3 of 3
> 
> This chapter takes place five years after Kristen allowed Michael in.

**Kristen's POV**

**Five years later...**

The first thing I remembered actually being able to focus on...was green.

An abundant sea of green.

Familiar green.

Green I knew from what seemed like ages ago.

Next came a voice.

Also familiar, but I couldn't say why.

"Kristen" the deep voice was saying. "Kristen, Honey, can you hear me?"

Kristen?

Who was Kristen?

Was _I_ Kristen?

I don't remember being Kristen.

Then again, I didn't remember being anything, really.

Who am I?

Where am I?

When am I?

"Cass, I don't think it worked" the deep voice continued to say, in a panic now. "She's not responding to me."

Cass?

I knew a Cass once...didn't I?

"He's no longer inside of her, that I am sure of" another familiar, yet much deeper voice replied. "Give it time Dean, she hasn't been in the driver's seat in nearly 6 years."

Dean?

I knew a Dean.

But how?

Dean. Dean. Dean.

The name played around inside of my head.

Then I remembered...

Dean.

Dean Winchester.

My love.

My life.

My sacrifice.

"Dean Bean?" I heard my voice croaked and I blinked my vision until I saw that sea of green again.

Eyes.

That gorgeous green belonged to a pair of eyes.

A pair of eyes that I cherished deeply.

"Oh god yes" the man belonging to the eyes, grinned down at me. "Yes Baby, it's Dean Bean" he chuckled.

Then I felt myself being jostled, as the man cradled me in a pair of strong comforting arms, as I lay in a bed.

"I remember you" I said weakly, staring up into those brilliant green eyes.

"That's good Kris" the man smiled at me, tears streaming down his cheeks now. "That's really good."

"I don't remember me though" I whispered, feeling myself frowning and my _own_ tears, pooling in my eyes. "Am I broken?"

"No Baby, you're not broken" the man breathed, crushing me to his firm chest. "You've just been through a helluva lot. You'll remember with time, promise."

"Ok" I said, yawning deeply.

I might not have remembered much about the man holding me, but I remembered the feeling of safety.

His arms meant I was safe from harm.

"Here, let's get you to bed" the man said, helping me up and doing something with the covers, before lying be back down, spooning with me, from behind.

From this position, his strong arms were wrapped completely around me, holding me tightly.

I felt as if I were in a cocoon of warmth and safety.

"Rest now Kris" he breathed in my ear.

"Is that my name, Kris?" I asked him.

"Kristen is your name. Your friends and family call you Kris for short" he explained.

"And which one are you...friend or family?" I asked him next.

"Definitely family" he replied and I could hear him crying again.

"Did I make you sad?" I frowned.

I wasn't exactly sure who the man was, just that he was familiar and that I could trust him.

The last thing I wanted to do was to make him sad.

"No Baby, you didn't" he replied, burying his face in my neck and breathing me in deeply. "I'm just so relieved that you're awake and talking to me."

"Even though I don't remember anything?" I hedged.

"You remember me" he pointed out.

"I remember your eyes and your voice. I remember that you bring me safety...and that I might love you. But I don't remember you" I honestly admitted.

It seemed like the right thing to do, to keep honesty between me and this man.

"You will" he promised me. "With time, you'll remember it all. Now sleep, Kris. I gotcha and I'm never letting go of you again."

"Okie dokie" I sighed contently and quickly fell asleep.

**2 weeks later...**

"How you holding up?" I heard Dean's voice say, as he climbed onto the roof of the hovel we were currently staying in.

"To be honest...I'm not" I admitted as Dean sat down next to me, swinging his feet off the roof, just as I was.

"I'd be worried if you _were_ ok" he replied with a heavy sigh.

"I got slapped today" I snorted, rubbing my cheek as if it still stung.

"Jesus...why?" Dean asked, sounding worried.

"Because apparently, _I'm a whore whose talents are best used for breaking up marriages and I should rot in hell_ " I seethed, summoning up the woman's words she shouted at me as she accosted me today.

Her actual words were _much_ more colorful than that, but I didn’t care to repeat them.

Not to Dean.

“Michael?” Dean guessed and I nodded.

“Yeah, apparently he used my body for _all_ of his guilty pleasures” I shuddered to think about everything I had done over the past nearly six years.

Things I had no control over since Michael was running the show and I was just along for the ride.

“You know that wasn’t you” Dean said, placing a hand on my knee.

“If roles were reversed, would that make _you_ feel better?” I asked the man, meeting his eyes.

“No, it wouldn’t” he frowned and sighed, removing his hand.

Immediately, I missed its warmth.

“Stop blaming yourself Dean” I said to the man, making him meet my eyes. “Putting this on you, doesn’t make me feel any better. It was _my_ choice, _my_ deal, _my_ consequences. I don’t mind you helping me through them, but please stop blaming yourself” I pleaded for the man to understand.

Dean blaming himself was just making me feel worse.

And I think he was beginning to understand that now.

“Ok Kris, I’ll try” he sighed again and took up my hand this time. “It’s hard though" he confessed, playing with my fingers.

“That’s because you’re sweet on me, my white knight” I teased him and Dean laughed, nudging me playfully.

“I _am_ sweet on you” he agreed with a nod. “And someone has to be your knight. God knows how much trouble you’d get in without me.”

“Asshole” I scoffed, making him laugh again. “I missed that…your laugh” I said wistfully. “Never fails to put a smile on my face.”

“I missed being able to make you smile” Dean grinned over at me. “How are you doing memory-wise?” he asked in a concerned tone.

“As good as can be expected, I guess” I shrugged. “I mean I remember the important stuff now. There are things that are still hazy and things I can’t recall at all.”

“Cass said you might never be able to recover those memories and you may never be who you once were” Dean’s voice wavered a bit.

I could tell it brought Dean physical pain to say that aloud.

“Memories don’t make me who I am, Dean” I replied passionately. “Sure, I feel different than I was before Michael jumped me, but I’ve been through hell, _literally_. The very fact that I am able to sit here in the sunshine, swing my feet off a roof, hold the hand of my sweetheart and _not_ be a basket-case? I think we can call that progress.”

Dean stared at me for a long moment before he was laughing his ass off.

“This is why I love you” he chuckled, wiping his eyes with his free hand. “It's also why I’m going to marry you.”

“What?” I gasped, looking over at the man.

Dean shifted himself into a kneeling position, keeping my hand in his and holding out a ring box with his other.

“Kristen Marie Nolan” Dean said, taking a deep breath. “This is crazy, I know it is. And I never figured myself as the settling-down-type, but I love you and I know you love me too. Will you marry me?”

“But we’re family Dean” I whispered, not wanting to say it aloud, but knowing it needed to be said.

I remembered when we had _the talk_ when my faculties were back in order...

> “Dean, can we talk?” was how I started the conversation.
> 
> Everyone in the room passed a knowing glance at each other and up and left us alone.
> 
> Boy, I knew how to clear a room, didn’t I?
> 
> But this talk was overdue.
> 
> I needed answers and so did Dean.
> 
> “Of course we can” Dean replied, though he sounded nervous as hell.
> 
> We both sat down at the kitchen table.
> 
> I sat across from Dean so I could read him and I knew he was doing the same to me.
> 
> “Me first” Dean started before I could say anything. “Do you remember anything from your time sitting shotgun to Michael?”
> 
> I took a deep breath and shook my head, holding Dean’s eyes so he could see that I wasn’t lying.
> 
> “Not much, no. I see random images, people’s faces, the Eiffel Tower, a fountain, random cities...but not much. He didn’t let control slip often, only when he was really enjoying himself. I only really remember emotions. Usually after he’d…” I trailed off, not needing to finish that sentence.
> 
> Dean knew that I was talking about sex.
> 
> I didn’t have to spell it out for him.
> 
> “My turn” I said. “How did you find me and where exactly are we?”
> 
> “That’s two…but I’ll let it slide. We are in New Deli, India” Dean replied nonchalantly. “The people we are staying with are hunters. When you went missing, we spread the word on the hunter network to keep and eye out and an ear down for any signs of you and Michael. Habib here, was the first to give me a solid lead, one that had enough meat on the bones for me to fly out here…”
> 
> “You _flew_ here?” I interrupted incredulously. “Like on an airplane?” I verified.
> 
> “Yes, on an airplane” he scoffed. “Dean Winchester flew on an airplane” he announced aloud.
> 
> I gasped.
> 
> I couldn't help it.
> 
> Dean had a height _thing_.
> 
> He did not fly and drove everywhere.
> 
> For him to actually get onto an airplane was _huge_.
> 
> It really put it into perspective how much he cared about me.
> 
> “Wow, so ok” I cleared my throat. “You flew to India and then what happened?”
> 
> I didn’t want to make a big deal about Dean flying, even though it _was_ a big deal.
> 
> “Habib was following you and pointed you out to me when I met up with him. And sure enough, I knew that it was Michael using your meatsuit” Dean continued on with his story. “So I called Cass and he got here, bringing Sam, who was sick for days after traveling by angel-express” he smirked. “That night we got together with Habib and his wife June, and did lots of research and contacted lots of experts, before we came up with a plan.”
> 
> "What was the plan?" I asked next.
> 
> "Nope" Dean shook his head at me. "Now it's my turn."
> 
> I rolled my eyes and sighed.
> 
> “Fine, what’s your question?” I conceded to the man’s wishes, knowing he was intent on playing a back and forth game of 20 questions.
> 
> “In the hallway, the night before the battle, were you going to tell me that you were pregnant?” Dean asked me.
> 
> His question took me by slight surprise.
> 
> I barely remembered that time, so long ago.
> 
> “Give me a minute to recall that” I frowned, running my hands through my hair and cringing when I remembered that it was so short…and black.
> 
> I was going to have to grow it out and bleach it so I looked like me once more.
> 
> “Hey, it’s ok” Dean soothed, reaching out to remove my hands from my hair. “If you can’t remember then, I’m not worried about it.”
> 
> “No, my anger is with my hair. I _hate_ it” I growled. “I look like a fucking boy.”
> 
> “A very pretty boy” Dean said with a smile and I snorted.
> 
> “Still a boy” I sighed and closing my eyes for a moment so I could recall that night.
> 
> _We had snuck upstairs during the bonfire. Everyone was enjoying their last night by drinking and roasting marshmallows. Me and Dean were enjoying it by sneaking secret kisses in the hallway._
> 
> “Yes, when I called you back, I was going to tell you then, but I chickened out” I admitted.
> 
> “Why did you chicken out?” Dean asked me next.
> 
> I shook my head.
> 
> “My turn” I arched my eyebrow at him and he narrowed his eyes at me. “What was the plan for vacating Michael from my body?” I didn’t hesitate to ask.
> 
> “Well, the key was us being soulmates, actually” Dean took a deep breath as if preparing himself for a long speech. “One day I shared that with Cass and he punched me, hard, sassing me for not telling him that we were soulmates sooner. Apparently, there’s a location spell you can do to find your soulmate, but only to pinpoint where they are. You have to already know the general location that they could be found in…which we didn’t. Plus, the spell is super-complicated and had to be done by a professional, so we had to scour all over for a witch that was on our side, willing to prep the spell so we could cast it when we knew the location.”
> 
> Dean paused to shudder.
> 
> He _hated_ witches.
> 
> It didn't matter if they were good or bad.
> 
> He hated them all.
> 
> “It took six months to find all the ingredients, another six months to find the witch. It wasn’t easy, but we managed. So now we had a spell, we just needed a location to focus on. We had many leads, but by the time Cass went to scope them out, Michael was long gone or wasn’t even there at all. It wasn’t until Habib’s email to me, with an attached picture, 3 years later, that made me hopeful once more. I mean your hair was not you at all, but I could see your eyes and I knew it was you, so I jumped on a plane and flew 18 hours to get here. Me and Habib tailed Michael and only when I was sure it was really him, did I perform the spell, which confirmed it for me. Now we had to get you in control and Michael out. I called Cass and he brought Sam immediately over. Part one of the plan was simple, tail Michael and get a feel for his habits. Apparently, the archangel liked booze, gambling and…” Dean trailed off.
> 
> “Sex” I supplied for him and he nodded.
> 
> “Yeah sex” Dean agreed and cleared this throat.
> 
> I could tell it was a sensitive subject for him.
> 
> It was one for me too.
> 
> Who knows how many people Michael fucked around with in my body.
> 
> Male or female, he wasn’t picky.
> 
> “So we knew he got around and we were going to use that to our advantage” Dean finished.
> 
> Instead of asking how, I used my looks to score me a free question.
> 
> I pulled my eyebrows together so I looked confused.
> 
> Dean fell for it.
> 
> “In Cass’s research on soulmates, he found out something interesting…no amount of birth control can come between you and your soulmate conceiving. When it’s meant to be, it’s happening whether you’re protected or not” Dean continued.
> 
> “No shit?” I asked and he laughed.
> 
> “No shit. Explains our situation, right?” he mused and I nodded.
> 
> “I knew I hadn’t forgotten an injection and you never forgot a condom…I couldn’t figure out how it had happened” I admitted and Dean nodded.
> 
> “I thought the same thing Kris” Dean chuckled and then sighed. “So you mix that bit of news with your note, telling me that when you contracted, Michael was forced behind-the-scenes because of the pain…and a plan formed.”
> 
> This time my eyebrows pulled to their own accord.
> 
> Was Dean saying what I _thought_ he was saying?
> 
> Dean nodded and sighed heavily.
> 
> "In order to get Michael out of you, you had to be put in a heightened state of pain” Dean slowly confessed. “I wasn’t about to let any harm come to you, so the only other option was to get you pregnant, force you to have the baby and then exorcise him from you when we got the chance.”
> 
> “Wow” I said in shock, not being able to believe what I was hearing.
> 
> “We had no other choice, Kris” Dean said defensively, holding his hands out to me. “If there was another choice, obviously we wouldn’t have chosen this. But Michael needed to be stopped and I knew this would stop him. Not only had you told me firsthand that it had, but all of Cass’s research supported the theory too. So now I needed a disguise. Michael would never allow his guard down unless I didn’t look or act like me. Habib found a local shaman that was willing to help us with everything…my disguise, the sex ritual, the accelerated pregnancy, the birth and the exorcising of Michael. His cost was the baby.”
> 
> “The baby?” I repeated, sounding horrified.
> 
> “No, no, not like that” Dean shook his head at me. “The shaman wanted the baby to go to someone in his tribe that couldn’t have children of their own. We weren’t going to keep the baby and this was an instant adoption, so it was a win-win” he shrugged. “So after we made arrangements, the shaman disguised me as a good-looking Indian man and with the help of Sam, I learned not to be me. I went to the bar we knew Michael was at and I laid it on thick, finally convincing him to come back to my place.”
> 
> Dean paused for a moment, hesitating to continue.
> 
> I didn’t need it spelled out for me.
> 
> I knew what “back to my place” meant.
> 
> Dean and Michael had sex, using my body.
> 
> I shuddered at the thought and so did Dean.
> 
> It grew silent for a long moment as I digested all that I just heard.
> 
> “So my turn” Dean said, steepling his fingers together. “Why’d you chicken out on telling me?”
> 
> “Well for one, I knew you’d stop me” I bluntly said with a shrug. “Family comes first for you, it always has. You would never allow the mother of your child to go into a fight, no matter how big or small it was, especially not when she’s carrying an unborn child. And you needed everyone there with you for your plan to work. Everyone of us had a job and I couldn’t risk you being a man down.”
> 
> “And for two?” he asked me.
> 
> I arched an eyebrow at him, clearly pointing out that that was two questions, not one.
> 
> “Hey, it’s more like a part two of my original question” he defended himself.
> 
> “Fine, freebie then” I said and then sighed. “And for two, I don’t know, it just didn’t seem like the moment to tell you. We were going into two separate rooms, on the eve of a huge fight, with a household of people who had no idea we were even a couple. I didn’t want to give you life-altering news like that” I shrugged.
> 
> Dean was quiet for a moment and I knew he was processing what I had just told him.
> 
> “I believe it’s your turn, Kris” he said to me.
> 
> I nodded and thought about what I wanted to ask him.
> 
> There was one question that was morbidly plaguing my mind.
> 
> One question I knew he probably wouldn’t or couldn’t answer.
> 
> And honestly, I wasn’t sure if I truly wanted to know the answer to it.
> 
> So I asked him the next one to pop into my head.
> 
> “How long did it take Michael to leave my body?” I asked instead, meeting the man’s beautiful green eyes. “Like, was it the first contraction or did it have to build up?” I frowned, not satisfied with that question either. “I guess what I want to know is did I suffer? Did Michael know something was up? I mean he had to, right, since I was pregnant? He’d have to know that something was wrong.”
> 
> Dean bit his lip hard and looked away from me.
> 
> Clearly _this_ was the question he hadn’t wanted me to ask him.
> 
> “You don’t have to answer that, Dean” I backed off, making him meet my eyes again. “It doesn’t matter in the end. He’s out and I’m back.”
> 
> “No I’ll answer” Dean protested, taking a deep breath of encouragement. “Yes, Michael knew something was up. I wanted to tie him up until we knew it took, but we couldn’t show our cards just yet. If it hadn’t taken, we could try again later. I knew it had worked because I had woken up to you punching me and kicking at me, demanding to know what I had done. Apparently, Michael’s supernatural birth control had failed him and he could feel that he was pregnant. Immediately, Cass came out and bound him to the bed, with the help of the shaman and Sam and me. By then, Michael knew what we were up to. So he tried to abort the baby from the inside, by searing you alive…” Dean broke off and took another deep and steadying breath. “Cass was able to stop him quickly by knocking him out and we had to keep him that way until you were ready to give birth. We couldn’t accelerate it like he had, but we made 9 months turn into 9 days. So you were kept bound and gagged for 9 days, being fed intravenously, so you and the baby would be fine. When it was time for you to give birth, we had no choice but to let you become conscious again. When that first contraction hit, your eyes flew open and you screamed bloody murder. It wasn’t until the sixth contraction, that your eyes stopped glowing blue for moments at a time. Then we had to time it just right. We needed him to be present in your body to expel him, and then put a barrier up so he couldn’t come back in and we had to do it before the baby was born, or he could just possess the baby. It was tricky, but we managed. As for if you suffered, I don’t know if you did or not, Kristen” he sighed. “You would know better than I would.”
> 
> “I don’t remember any of that” I reminded him.
> 
> “And I hope you never do” he added and it grew silent between us for a moment before Dean broke it. “But that wasn’t the question you originally wanted to ask me.”
> 
> “No, it wasn’t” I admitted.
> 
> “What did you want to ask me first?” he asked.
> 
> “I honestly don’t think I want to know the answer” I whispered, looking down at my hands.
> 
> “Try me, please” he pushed, curling his fingers under my chin, making me meet his eyes. “Freebie” he added and it made me smile a little.
> 
> “You had sex with me, as Michael” I hedged, frowning at how it sounded aloud. “How was it?” I found myself asking.
> 
> “I’m assuming you’re not talking about the actual sex” Dean clarified.
> 
> “No I’m not” I shook my head.
> 
> “Well” Dean began, taking a deep breath and pulling back from me, so he could stare off into the distance. “It was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do in my life. Second only to keeping you chained and locked up for 9 days while we expelled Michael from you” he took another deep breath and let it out shakily.
> 
> Then he met my eyes and I could see the pain in them.
> 
> It made tears immediately pool to my eyes in response.
> 
> “You weren’t you, I could tell that from the moment you talked to me at the bar. I had to keep reminding myself that you weren’t you and I wasn’t me and this was just business” he sighed. “I had to let that motherfucker think that I was so into him and that I wanted nothing more than to fuck him into the bed…when all I wanted to do was beat him to a bloody pulp. But then I would be beating you and that wasn’t an option…” he trailed off and sighed again. “It was the hardest thing I had to do, Kris. Don’t think for one moment that I enjoyed having sex with him. It wasn’t you and it took everything in me to finish, because honestly, I was disgusted with myself. I threw up the moment it was over and I knew the ritual had worked. I spent _days_ feeling sick and disgusted with myself. I still do” he sniffed and broke eye contact with me.
> 
> I knew that had to have been hard to admit to me.
> 
> Even harder for the man to actually do.
> 
> And here I thought I was brave for sacrificing myself for everyone.
> 
> Dean had to force himself to be aroused and climax into the body of the woman he loved, but was hijacked by and angel.
> 
> That was _true_ bravery.
> 
> I reached out and took his hand in mine, entwining our fingers together.
> 
> _Don’t feel that way. You did want you had to do to free me,_ I was silently telling him.
> 
> Dean responded by squeezing my fingers gently.
> 
> _Point taken_ , was his silent response.
> 
> “Did you feel any pain?” Dean broke the silence after a while. “Did he hurt you?”
> 
> “I don’t know” I replied. “I don’t remember anything about being pregnant or giving birth or him leaving. And I don’t think I want to” I added darkly.
> 
> I was sure Michael would’ve done everything in his power to make sure I wasn’t able to free myself of him…including torturing me.
> 
> “I don’t want you to remember that either” Dean whispered. “Ever.”
> 
> “So what about the baby? Is it ok? Did it survive? Is it a seraphim?” I couldn’t help but to blurt out.
> 
> “The baby is fine. It was a girl and it was born healthy. She had a little trace of grace in her, but not much since Michael vacated before she was actually born. Cass took care of the grace though, extracted it from the baby with no harm done. She’s living a normal human life with normal human parents. She’s going to do great in life” Dean explained with a smile.
> 
> That took a burden from off my chest.
> 
> I was worried that the baby had died in childbirth because of Michael struggling or something.
> 
> To know that she was a healthy baby, going to normal people, growing up to have a normal life, it was a relief to hear.
> 
> “What did he do with the grace?” I asked next.
> 
> “Consumed it” Dean replied and I looked over at him in surprise. “It was the only safe way to take care of it. Besides, he needed a recharge” Dean snorted. “Says because it’s archangel grace, he’s feeling better and stronger than ever.”
> 
> “What do we do now?” I whispered, aware that I sounded nervous and afraid.
> 
> “Well we give it one more week, as both the shaman and Cass suggested and then we go back home” Dean answered, meeting my eyes.
> 
> “And us?” I swallowed hard, terrified to hear his answer. “What happens to us?”
> 
> “What do you want to happen to us?” Dean countered.
> 
> “I don’t know Dean” I breathed, tears streaming down my face.
> 
> I pulled my hand from his and wiped my eyes with the hem of my shirt.
> 
> “So much has changed between us, but at the same time, this” I took his hand up again “this, comes so easy for us. I don’t know what I should do” I cried softly.
> 
> “What does your heart say?” Dean asked.
> 
> “My heart says to stay with you, that, yes, things have changed, but it’s nothing we can’t get past. I know I love you, I know that it was my love for you that allowed me to return to you” I honestly replied. “But my mind tells me that there are just some things you can’t get past, like leaving your boyfriend with a child that he never knew existed and sleeping around hundreds of people. Even if it wasn’t me” I spoke over the man's protest. “It was still my body and my face people saw. I feel so dirty and filthy inside” I stopped to sob a little. “I just don’t know what I want, Dean” I wailed.
> 
> “Oh Kris” Dean said and stood up, coming around to my side of the table and pulling me up into his strong arms and holding me tight. “I know there’s nothing I can say or do that will make you feel better and, in the end, you have to be the one to decide if it’s your heart or your mind that wins. But just know this one thing” he said pulling back slightly and cupping my face tenderly “I love you more now, after everything we’ve been through, than I did then, and I was pretty fucking gone for you then. I don’t care what happened while we were apart. It doesn’t change my feelings for you. I will be here for you, no matter your choice. I promise you.”
> 
> **Later that night...**
> 
> “What is it Dean?” I had asked the man.
> 
> He was nervously pacing in front the bed and I was beginning to doubt whether or not I should’ve even entertained his plea of sleeping in the same bed.
> 
> Not when he was clearly so unsure about it.
> 
> “If you’d rather not share the bed…” I trailed off, aware of the emotion in my tone.
> 
> Lately, I had been up and down in the emotional department.
> 
> I got angry as easily as I got depressed.
> 
> I cried when I was mad and I cried when I was sad.
> 
> And I _hated_ it.
> 
> I didn't remember being so girly before I had two babies and an archangel inside of me.
> 
> Dean stopped pacing and looked me in the eyes, seeing the emotion there, he came over and sat down beside me, shaking his head.
> 
> “I very much want this. No, I _need_ this Kris” he promised me.
> 
> I could see that he was being honest, but also that something was plaguing him.
> 
> I could see the war in his eyes.
> 
> "Ok, so what is it then?" I hesitantly asked him, feeling a pit in my stomach grow.
> 
> I knew whatever it was that he was battling, was going to be life-alternating.
> 
> “Confession?” he said and I nodded for him to continue.
> 
> He took a deep breath and grabbed my hands in his, squeezing them tightly.
> 
> Was he trying to prevent me from leaving or me from hitting him?
> 
> "I knew you were pregnant before we went into battle" he whispered.
> 
> I felt my eyebrows pull in confusion.
> 
> He couldn't have.
> 
> Why then would he ask me about the moment in the hallway?
> 
> "I found out _after_ the hallway" he clarified and I realized that my question was asked aloud.
> 
> _After_ the hallway?
> 
> I didn't see him again unto the next morning, in the kitchen.
> 
> I mean he _was_ acting weird that morning, but I attributed it to battle jitters.
> 
> How had he found out?
> 
> Only me and Ellen knew that I was pregnant, and I knew she wouldn’t have told Dean, not before the battle anyways.
> 
> Unless...
> 
> “Oh god” I breathed, my eyes widening in horror. “You heard us that night?” I gasped in shock as guilt filled Dean’s face.
> 
> So it was true.
> 
> Dean heard mine and Ellen's argument in the workshop.
> 
> “Oh god” I repeated and buried my face in my hands. “You weren’t supposed to hear any of that” I stupidly pointed out.
> 
> Wait.
> 
> Did he hear _all_ of it?
> 
> Like, every single part?
> 
> “You heard all of it?” I couldn’t help but to ask, peaking at him through my fingers. “You heard that we’re…” I trailed off not wanting to say it aloud.
> 
> It still seemed a bit dirty and wrong to me.
> 
> “Siblings? Yeah, I heard that part too” Dean nodded, looking down.
> 
> "Jesus" I gasped and started to sob in my hands.
> 
> Now all of my secrets were out there.
> 
> I felt so exposed and so bare.
> 
> I never wanted Dean to find out about us being related.
> 
> Never.
> 
> “Hey, no” Dean said, coming around in front of me and removing my hands from my face, kneeling down between my legs. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Kristen.”
> 
> “How can you say that Dean?” I sniffed. “How can you say that it’s ok for us to carry on with a relationship when we’re blood?”
> 
> “I can say it because I believe it. Yes, it’s a shock. But it’s not the end of the world. We’re soulmates, remember. Rules and standards don’t apply to us” Dean tried for a smile but it didn’t work on me.
> 
> “Dean” I sighed, shaking my head slightly.
> 
> “If it bothered me, then I wouldn’t have kissed you the way I did in the kitchen, the morning of the battle” Dean got serious. “I knew then, but kissed you like I didn’t give a shit...because I don’t. I knew this entire time Kristen, and if it bothered me, I wouldn’t have tried so hard to convince you to stay with me earlier.”
> 
> His voice grew soft and he leaned in closer to me.
> 
> “If it bothered me, I would not be on my knees before you, trying to convince you that it’s not a big deal and that I still love you and want to be with you…in _all_ ways.”
> 
> I really listened to what Dean was saying to me.
> 
> He _had_ known all along, but yet, he hadn’t once mentioned it or protested to any kind of closeness.
> 
> In fact, he kept trying to get _closer_ to me, like tonight with the sharing of the same bed.
> 
> Did I dare believe that Dean honestly didn’t care that we were blood?
> 
> His brilliant green eyes never lied to me and they weren’t lying now.
> 
> But I had to ask…just to make it clear aloud.
> 
> “Really?” I asked, not helping the way I sounded hopeful.
> 
> Because honestly, I could overlook the whole half-brother thing.
> 
> Dean brought me joy and happiness.
> 
> He made me feel safe and wanted.
> 
> He loved me unconditionally and if he was able to look past being my brother then I could look past being his sister.
> 
> It’d take time, but I was willing to try.
> 
> “I promise” Dean vowed and I knew that he meant it.
> 
> “Oh Dean” I said and threw my arms around the man’s neck, giving _him_ my very first hug since I got my senses back.
> 
> “Oh Kristen” he teased, but hugged me tightly, thoroughly relived and relaxed for once.
> 
> Then he climbed into the bed with me and situated us so that he was the big spoon and I was the little spoon and our legs were a bundled mess that you couldn’t tell where one person ended and the other began.

“I don’t care” Dean’s voice brought me back to reality.

Back to the present where Dean Winchester was proposing to me.

God.

“I told you before, Kris. I don’t care that we’re blood. I really don’t. It just solidifies the bond between us. I don’t care that you’ve had an angel jump your bones. I don’t care what he’s done while in control of you and I definitely don’t care what everyone else thinks. You are my soulmate and I love you with everything that I can. We have a gorgeous little girl waiting for us stateside and I want us to be a family…complete as husband and wife. Please say that you want this too…that you want me as permanently as I want you.”

There was one more thing I wanted to ask him.

One more thing I needed to know.

Dean, the true soulmate that he was, knew exactly what I wanted to ask.

“Since you Kristen, it’s only _been_ you” he promised. “I never gave up us.”

Then I guess that covered all my worries.

Dean didn’t care that we were blood.

He didn’t care what I had done or who I had done it with while Michael was inside of me.

He didn’t care if no one else approved of us being together.

He loved me and he wanted me…still.

“Ask me again” I smiled down at the man.

“Ok” he said and dramatically cleared his throat, opening his mouth to ask me to marry him again.

“Yes!’ I shouted, interrupting him before he could even get a word out.

Laughing, I threw my arms around his neck.

“Shit Kris” he wheezed as my sudden body weight combined with his, brought us down to the rooftop.

I landed on top of him, hard.

But he was laughing and smiling the biggest smile I had ever seen on the man’s beautiful face.

“Well aren’t you going to put a ring on it” I waggled my fingers in front of his face.

Dean laughed, but shook his head.

“Not until it’s official. I only have the one ring” he mused.

“Official?” I repeated, sounding confused.

Nodding, Dean called out for Cass.

The angel appeared out of nowhere and with him, were Habib, his wife June and Sam.

And I understood.

“You want us to get married now?” I asked in surprise.

“I don’t want to wait any longer” he whispered in a reverent tone.

“You sappy motherfucker” I replied and everyone laughed.

“Here sis, let me help you up” Sam said and reached down to help me onto my feet.

I just stared at the man.

He had just called me "sister".

Did he know our secret too?

“Well you’re _going_ to be my sister” Sam blushed, realizing what he had said. “I’m sorry, if you don’t want me to call you that…”

I cut him off by throwing my arms around the man.

Sam wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tightly.

Sam didn’t know our secret, which was a relief because I don’t think I could’ve handled rejection or disgust from the man.

I looked up to Sam, even though I was older, as an older brother.

He was my partner in crime, my best friend.

And now, he was my brother.

“Don’t make me cry Sammy” I breathed in his ear.

“You’re _supposed_ to cry at weddings, Kris” he sniffed and squeezed me tighter for a moment, before releasing me and walking me over to his brother. “I believe this is yours” he smirked at Dean and gave him my hand.

“It is” Dean replied in a tone filled with adoration.

He began to walk us forwards, towards Cass, but I stopped him.

“Seriously? I can’t even change?” I frowned down at my Led Zeppelin shirt and green yoga pants.

“You’re nearly perfect just the way you are” Dean smiled at me.

“ _Nearly_ perfect?” I frowned, wondering what the man meant by that.

“Cass, if you could” Dean smiled at his friend now.

“It would be an honor” Cass grinned and touched my head.

I felt a tingly sensation all over my scalp and my frown increased.

What was the angel doing to me?

When it was done, I reached up and touched my long, blonde hair.

Cass had returned my beautiful blonde hair back to me.

I no longer looked like a freakin' boy!

“Oh Cass” I cried and was hugging the angel now too.

I felt him awkwardly pat me on the back, clearly not accustomed to affection, making everyone else laugh.

“ _Now_ you’re perfect” Dean grinned down at me, running his hand through my blonde hair, when I returned to his side.

“Are we ready?” Cass asked and both me and Dean nodded.

If Dean could marry me in a wholly old t-shirt and yoga pants, I could marry him in board shorts and a tanktop.

“Ok, I’ll make this short and sweet since you both aren’t religious” Cass said nonchalantly and cleared his throat. “Kristen, do you take Dean to be your wedded husband? Do you promise to love, honor, cherish and protect him, forsaking all others and holding only unto him?”

“I do” I nodded, meeting Dean’s stunning and emotional green eyes.

“And Dean, do you take Kristen to be your wedded wife? Do you promise to love, honor, cherish and protect her, forsaking all others and holding only unto her?” Cass asked Dean now.

“I do” Dean promised, his eyes never leaving mine.

I could see a tear stream down his cheek.

The _one perfect tear_ , as I secretly referred to it as.

Dean didn’t cry much, but when that _one_ tear snuck out, oh god, it made me bawl a million.

As I was doing right now.

Then we realized that Cass was staring expectantly at us.

“Shit!” Dean exclaimed and pulled the ring box from out of his pocket again, making everyone laugh.

I could hear metal clinking around in there.

Sam stepped forwards and took the ring box from Dean, opening it and smiling greatly.

He reached inside and pulled out two rings, handing me one and Dean one.

Then he stepped back, taking the box with him.

I looked down at the ring I was holding.

It wasn’t anything fancy...just a solid gold and silver band.

Then I noticed the inscription inside:

**To John, my soulmate**

I gasped and looked up at Dean.

He gave me a watery smile and showed me the inscription of the diamond ring in his hand:

**To Mary, my soulmate**

Our wedding rings were going to be our parents’ rings.

It seemed destined, that everything was coming to a full circle.

“You may place the rings on your respective right hands” Cass instructed us.

Dean went first, taking up my right hand and sliding down the gorgeous diamond wedding band onto my finger.

It fit perfectly.

Next, I took up Dean’s right hand and slid on his ring, which also fit perfectly.

“By the power vested in me, I announce you husband and wife” Cass announced proudly. “You may kiss your bride.”

“Gladly” Dean purred and that was all the warning I got, before I was bent over backwards and kissed deeply and thoroughly.

It was our first kiss since I had come back.

I was afraid of showing Dean any kind of affection that could be taken romantically, even after he promised me that that was what he wanted, things to go back how they were.

I still was unsure about us being brother and sister and being _physical_ together.

At least I was until Dean kissed me just then.

All worries and doubts left me and I threw my arms around the man, deepening the kiss and making everyone, except Cass of course, cat-call us.

When we righted and gazed into each other’s eyes, I knew right then, that everything would be alright.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What if they hate me?” I whispered, sitting shotgun in the Impala.

We had pulled up to Bobby and Ellen’s house and I was a nervous wreck.

“Why on earth would they hate you, Kristen?” Sam asked me from the backseat.

“The whole Michael thing” I said in a ‘duh’ tone. “I kinda did just leave a baby on their couch and left with no explanation.”

“They’re family Kris” Dean reassured me, taking my hand in his. “They don’t hate you. All I’ve gotten since we landed have been texts asking how much longer we’d be before we’re here” he waved his phone at me. “No one in that house hates you or is angry with you for your choices.”

“ _None_ of my choices?” I asked, looking over at Dean, making sure he understood what I was really asking him.

He did and he nodded.

“They support _all_ of your choices…mine too” he promised me and then sighed. “Come on” he said, getting out and coming to my side of the car, opening the door for me and reaching down to help me out. “You’ll only be sure, if you see them for yourself” he pointed out.

“I hate it when you’re right” I seethed, making Dean laugh.

“We _all_ hate it when he’s right” Sam agreed, getting out and standing next me.

Dean punched his brother and then took up my hand.

“Come on Kris” he encouraged me forwards.

We started walking towards the house and all was going well until the porch door opened and out flew a little blonde beauty.

My steps faltered as she lit up at the sight of Dean, shouted “Daddy” and went running to him.

Dean ran towards her, meeting her halfway and scooped her up in his arms, hugging her tightly.

“Oh I missed you daddy, ever so much” the little girl cried in Dean’s neck.

“I’ve missed you too, Baby” Dean sniffed, hugging her tightly. “More than you know.”

I felt Sam leave my side and came running up to Dean and the little girl.

“Did you miss me too, Munchkin?” Sam asked the girl, tickling her and making her squeal and then swat him.

“I did until you started tickling me, _Uncle Sam_ ” she sassed Sam and I could tell in that one look and sentence, she was definitely my kid.

Dean turned to look at me, as if to agree with my thoughts.

“I brought someone here to meet you, Mary” Dean said and started to make his way towards me.

I involuntarily took a step back.

I wasn't ready for this.

My daughter would hate me for sure.

Where had I been all of her life?

I wasn't ready to answer those questions yet.

Dean took in my hesitancy and slowed his steps, until he finally reached my side.

“Do you know who this is?” he asked the little girl in his arms.

Mary nodded and reached out for me.

Motherly instinct took over and I scooped her up in my arms.

When your child wants you, you allow them to have you.

Whether you're prepared for it or not.

The little girl played with my blonde hair and then hers, comparing them.

They were the same shade of golden blonde.

She then cupped my face and stared into my eyes.

“You’re my mama” she said in a shy voice.

“I am” I sniffed, feeling tears fill my eyes at the word “mama” from her lips.

“Why are you sad?” she asked me, gently wiping away my tears.

“I’m not Mary. These are happy tears. I’m so happy to finally get to meet you” I answered softly.

“Can I cry my happy tears too?” she asked me, as tears of her own were filling her eyes.

“Of course you can” I nodded. “Never be afraid of expressing who you are or how you’re feeling.”

“Ok mama. In that case, I love you” she flashed me a blinding grin, as tears streamed down her eyes.

“I love you too Baby” I cried and squeezed her tightly to my chest.

She immediately burrowed deeply inside my body and relaxed fully and completely, especially when Dean's comforting arms wrapped around us both.

Though she was crying, I could feel her happiness.

Mary had her mama and she had her daddy.

Everything was right in the world.


End file.
